Make the Future Blossom
by Dreamyin
Summary: Haruno Sakura was used to Naruto's bizarre plans, but this one really topped it. In an attempt to change the future for the better, her best friend sends her back to the past to infiltrate their own home. The medic planned to do this as discreetly as possible, but she should have known that even with a new identity, it wouldn't be that easy. Timetravel
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Haruno Sakura was used to Naruto's bizarre plans, but this one really topped it. In an attempt to change the future for the better, her best friend sends her back to the past to infiltrate their own home. The medic planned to do this as discretly as possible, but she should have known that even with a second identity, it wouldn't be that easy.

Beta: None

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.

Another time-travel. I love those. This time with Sakura, seeing as though I thought she was such a whiny little brat in the first part of Naruto, she has gotten bad-ass after the Tsunade influence. So here is a little something to show her some appreciation… and to finally get this out of my head. Why is it that instead of inspiration for the next chapters for my other stories when I need it, I can only come with inspiration for new stories?

I hope you like it! Feedback would be very much appreciated!

**Make the Future Blossom**

**Chapter 1: Cyclamen**

_~ Resignation and Goodbye ~_

"That's crazy."

"I know."

"That isn't _possible_. Naruto-baka"

"_That's_ the crazy thing, Sakura-hime. It is."

He wouldn't lie to her about such things, but it was still very hard to believe.

"This _isn't_ funny! Why joke about being able to change it all?!"

"I. Am. Not. Joking."

There was a silence as the other future participant of this crazy project processed the information as she stared at the grave expression on his face.

No way.

He actually was being serious! Deadly serious, if she were to believe the look in his eyes.

She wasn't able to doubt him with that look.

Sakura frowned at him but gave in. She considered it for a moment, knowing that this crazy idea was a dangerous one. They could still win the war if they fought hard, but what was there to fight for?

Nearly everything – everyone- was gone. Still… if this worked. They could change everything. She closed her eyes, knowing that she had made her decision as soon as she had heard the words come out of his mouth. As she opened her eyes, the hope and determination that shone in them reflected his own.

"Tell me more."

A new slight sparkled in his eyes as he told her everything he knew.

For now, that small glimmer of hope was enough.

_**~ Two weeks later ~ **_

She had been training harder than anytime before. Her breathing was nearly painful and her legs shook dangerously. Sweat covered nearly her whole body, but she had yet to complain. Seeing as Naruto couldn't do anything but use taijutsu himself for the moment, he was completely focused on being the hard taskmaster that she needed.

"You need to go faster." He told her.

"I know."

"You were not going any faster."

"I _know!" _She snapped at him, breathing harshly through her teeth.

She felt the urge to let a sob escape her lips, but she didn't give in. She was strong. They were only doing this because she had to be at her sharpest. She had been training so much the last couple of years that she could stand her ground with Naruto for a long time. She could do this.

Thanks to Naruto, she was the 'Pink Flash' after all. She had been part of the Hokage's secret guard – just three people had been selected - that Naruto had restarted once he heard of his Father's old project. She had been the first he had taught the jutsu to. That had meant a lot to her.

Though Naruto was much faster than she would ever be, she had one little trick up her sleeve that he always claimed to envy. They had found out by accident, but it was one of the greatest discoveries for her techniques.

Had she ever underestimated the power of perfect chakra control, she wouldn't ever do so again.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before harshly breathing out.

Naruto frowned. "If you want to sneak past the ANBU, you-"

"Needed to be one second faster, I _know_ Naruto." There was no anger and frustration in her voice anymore, but a determined glint instead, which calmed him.

"Let me try one more time. I think I know which movement might be redundant to make." She muttered, referring to her chakra.

"Alright." He agreed and watched her hide once more behind the rock on their right.

He patiently waited for something to happen, keeping his ears and eyes open. He knew that it would be useless for him to look for her chakra signature. With her control, he could only find it if he were to use his Sage mode these days.

He suddenly whipped around to tap her on the shoulder, but to his surprised he only hit air.

"Aw damn it, you got me this time." He smirked as he felt a hand gently touch the back of his neck.

She laughed – relieved to finally get it down - and let herself flop onto the ground, feeling completely exhausted. Naruto grinned at her and playfully nudged her with his foot.

"That was great. The distance you are able to cover is getting bigger."

"The further I try to manipulate my chakra to form that seal, the worse the quality gets. I will get slower eventually." She muttered as she caught her breath, her legs tingling from the jutsu.

"Still, you are improving. You will kick those ANBUs' asses."

"I wouldn't have been able to without your almighty knowledge of seals."

"Aw, your not bad with them yourself Hime." The blond playfully brushed the praise off.

"Don't call me that _Hokage-sama_."

He just smiled.

"Now that we are on the subject, let's get that big brain of you cracking. I got some more books on seals for you. There was this medical one that you wanted to know about so-"

Medical? Sakura was all ears.

_**~A couple of days later~ **_

"Naruto-baka I told you not to use any chakra!"

"I didn't even realise I was doing it!" Naruto defended himself, looking guilty.

"Now you don't have enough chakra to seal yet." Sakura complained, throwing a book at him just to show her frustration.

"Sorry, Sakura-hime." The Hokage apologised as he dodged it, looking frustrated as well.

With a sigh, he shifted through the thick piles of notes and seals that he was going through. The seal he had to make was so complex and dangerous that they not only needed a enormous reserve of the demonic chakra that Kurama would thankfully provide, but also a lot of natural chakra to protect her.

By a lot, they meant a _lot_.

For this reason, they constantly had one of Naruto's clone gathering the natural chakra in Sage mode, before it would be sealed. This could only be done if they didn't waste it on anything else though.

The pink-haired woman let out a frustrated sigh. "It's alright. Just try to keep an eye on it alright? No extra clones either."

The Hokage pouted. "Fine." He agreed and reached for his brush, practicing a particular swirl once more.

He wouldn't dare to make a mistake when Sakura would be at risk.

_**~A couple of days days later~ **_

"Found anything useful yet?"

Thick and tall piles of dusty records surrounded the two ninja as they shifted through them.

"Nothing that will fit you." Her teammate grumbled, flinging another file towards the 'useless' heap of messy paperwork on his left.

Sakura sighed as she returned to her own neater-but-just-as-dusty pile of papers. They had been going through these for days already and they were both getting restless.

"Wish I could use my clones."

"You need to built up your chakra." She answered automatically, glancing at the four diamonds that she had drawn on top of his forehead in the last two weeks. She gauged his chakra reserves and decided that they could draw another diamond tomorrow.

Her own forehead supported two diamonds of her own, one of which she usually wore herself, by courtesy of – and in remembrance of - her Shishou. Though her own chakra wasn't really needed as much as Naruto's was, she still wanted to provide as much as she could while training.

"I know I know." Naruto replied absently.

"So do you wanna be the lost daughter of that Karumi lady that disappeared all those years ago after that big scandal?" Naruto joked after a moment of silence, holding up another old file.

Sakura's face scrunched up, showing just how much she like that idea.

"I just want to be able to keep healing." She muttered.

"Heh, you will go stir-crazy if you can't help out anyone." Naruto told her with a knowing smirk.

She agreed with a chuckle.

"I never thought there have been so many people that Konoha lost track of." She voiced after she finished the last useless document of her pile and automatically moved a new pile of paper to her right.

"Well, we can be grateful for that now." Naruto replied, though he glanced at the piles next to him with a rather unhappy expression.

"Agreed."

"Now, how about being the lost daughter of the sister of a nobleman, who had been kidnapped during a trip to family?"

"Possible healer factor?"

"Ehm... they trained her to become their personal one?"

"Yeah right, who would be crazy enough to believe that." She drawled, flipping over another page.

"Hey, there are plenty of crazy people who would actually be able to do that you know…" Naruto defended and shot her a pointed look.

Sakura couldn't argue with that and stuck out her tongue at him instead.

"I'm not going to be some suspicious possible brainwashed infiltrator. I can't stand people breathing down my neck that way."

"As if your infiltration skills aren't good enough..." He couldn't help but snort.

"Still, don't want to go through the trouble of people feeling suspicious of me."

'Certainly, when it would be people I know.' She left unsaid, but Naruto probably knew she thought it anyway.

"Fine…" Naruto conceded. "Here, I have a promising one though. Of course, it had to be on the bottom of that stupid dusty pile but anyway… The mother is a retired medic ninja after having gone through something pretty dramatic. She was pregnant when she left, but there was never anything to –"

After a few hours of checking other records that included tracking down the location she had lived in. It would be no good if thousands of people were supposed to know her and no one would know that she had had a 'daughter' as it would hinder with Ino's and Naruto's jutsu that she had been practicing. So after the necessary background checks, it was decided.

She would be known as Sasaki Hana.

Naruto had no qualms bothering her enough with the name until she reacted to it properly.

The few punches that hit their mark – though painful – were worth it.

_**~ About a month later ~**_

"Are you sure that this is going to work out? Will you be alright? "

She couldn't help but voice her last doubts as she watched the man in front of her smear the red liquid on the floor.

"You have practically the best chakra control out there, Sakura-chan." Her best friend calmly reminded her from where he was crouched on the ground.

The tension in the blond's shoulders told her that he was anything but calm though.

She shivered slightly as she watched Naruto hand dip into the bowl with red liquid once more. His hands were already covered with blood – her blood – as he continued to draw the last complicated symbols in the circle that he had been working on for nearly days on end. Not only the floor of the cave was covered, even the walls were drawn upon.

The blood had become crusty and dark from having remained on his hands too long as he hadn't taken a break for a few hours now.

Sakura bit her lip, feeling absolutely useless as she paced behind him in a restless manner.

They couldn't afford to take a break. A few days ago they had heard of 'Tobi's' movement. They had tried to postpone it as much as possible, so that they could prepare to the fullest. Now, their time was up and they needed to hurry.

What they were currently doing was unheard of, not to mention _very_ – extremely, incredibly, stupidly so - dangerous. In the last few years, however, they had both built up quite a reputation to survive the impossible, especially the Fūinjutsu Master next to her.

"Still… so much chakra." She argued, crossing her arms in discomfort as she continued to watch him perform his art.

"I can't be prepared for _that_…"

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, quietly taking in her worried face and then looked down again. Sakura watched her teammate finish the final swirls before he stood up and walked towards her, nudging her playfully with his hip as he picked up a wet cloth to thoroughly clean her blood from his hands. She stared at the movements of the cloth, which soaked up the blood with some mesmerizing feeling of symbolism.

He hated having blood on his hands, especially hers. In a way, she realised, it could symbolise her life. He would soon have her faith in his hands as well. It was clear that he didn't like that either, even more than she did; yet he still managed to give her the smile that she could always expect from him. 'Look at the bright side.' He always seemed to say.

It was the reason why she had always stood by him all those years.

She squared her jaw as she felt the first signs of tears appear in the corner of her eyes.

Kami, she was going to miss her obnoxious friend _so_ much.

"We have already practiced for a long time Sakura-hime…" Said obnoxious friend reassured her, before he grinned as he dodged a swat – she had told him not to call her 'hime' many times – that had been aimed for his head. She glowered at him, but stopped when his expression became more serious. He reached out with his hand and brushes his clean knuckled gently over her cheek.

"No seriously Sakura-chan, please don't doubt yourself, you will be fine." He continued, sounding very confident on the matter, before he let his hand drop.

It was the reason why she trusted him so much.

There was a silence between the two best friends before, as if having heard an unspoken signal, they moved towards to each other and hugged. The hug was desperate, full of love and had the feeling of a sad goodbye at the same time. The emotions ran so high that the kunoichi couldn't keep her emotions under her control anymore and tears started to run down her face.

"I will miss you." She whispered. _So much._

"I will miss you as well." He whispered back, obviously feeling a lump in his throat by sound of it.

"Will you try and follow me?" She whispered hoarsely, mentally telling herself to stop crying.

"Maybe." He mumbled into her hair, pulling Sakura a little closer.

She wasn't satisfied with that answer.

"Promise me." She protested, pushing her head against the coat that he had nearly always come to wear after he had become Hokage and took a deep breath to take in his familiar scent for the last time.

"Sakura-ch-"

"Promise me." She repeated stubbornly.

"You do realise that the last promise I made was the one I bro-"

"Promise me Naruto!" She cut him off firmly, pushing a little away from him so that he could see her glaring into his sad eyes that were looking down on her.

If it weren't for the fact that he was hugging her and refused to let her go for the short time they had left, Naruto would have run his hand through his blond spiky hair.

"Sakura-chan." He whispered desperately, pleading her to understand.

"We _don't know_ how time-paradox will work out. As far as we know you will be the first one that going back!" He shook her shoulders softly as he told her this in a more frustrated manner, feeling hopeless with the situation at hand. "Who knows what can happen if you get back. You either create another dimension or you could erase-"

He was once more abruptly cut off when Sakura's hand planted itself firmly on his mouth. He muffled in protest before he realised that she was trembling. Looking down, his eyes widened when he saw her fearful eyes.

"Don't finish that sentence… " She hissed.

"Please." She whispered, looking up at him pleadingly.

They both knew all to well what he had been about to say_. ' You could erase me from existence.' _

She could not bare the thought that she might erase her best friend, her brother in all but blood…her family.

Slowly but surely, the sad blue eyes gained a faint determined light that she had seen many times before. Looking down at her – who had ever thought he would grow so much taller than her? - he nodded slowly and pulled her back into a firm hug. He would not put his anger towards that bastard Madara above his friend.

"I promise to do my utmost best to follow you." He said, kissing her forehead as if to seal the promise.

Sakura couldn't help but feel relieved by the gesture and kissed him on his cheek in return. He would try, which practically meant that he would go as far as nearly killing himself in an attempt to follow her. There was no guarantee, but it would be enough for her. He would _try_ to follow her. The idea that her precious person – her home - would try to be at her side, no matter if it might take years, was more reassuring than anything at the moment.

At least, she would have hope that he eventually would.

They stood there for a few minutes, enjoying the moment to the fullest. She could hear him inhale the scent of her hair, much like she was inhaling the smell of his coat and pulled him a little closer. His heartbeat was speeding up, betraying how nervous he actually felt. She smiled ruefully before she swallowed, knowing what came next.

"Alright, let's get started." Sakura muttered before she could change her mind and both reluctantly pulled away.

Standing in the middle of the seal, Sakura crouched down and took off the cloak she wore. There was no embarrassment as she exposed herself to her teammate. They were professionals. They weren't teenagers anymore. They had gone through war. They had both lost people, both lovers and loved ones. They were the only ones left.

And they wouldn't be for much longer.

She closed her eyes as Naruto gently started to paint special seals on her bare back, waist and eventually even her chest with her own blood. Which, Sakura thought with sad amusement, would have left him blushing completely to a very red shade many years ago.

"Can you stop repressing you chakra please Sakura-hime?" Naruto softly requested, breaking her line of thought.

The kunoichi blinked before she realised that he was right. She was feeling nervous – nerve-wrenchingly so - and had therefore automatically repressed her chakra to a nearly unnoticeable signature for him. She took a deep breath to calm down and let her chakra flow more freely, allowing him to enjoy her 'presence' for the next hour.

They didn't talk during the hour that it took to cover her whole body with the necessary seals. There wasn't anything to be said, so they enjoyed each other's presence instead. "I'm nearly done." Naruto gently let her know, getting her out of the meditative state she had nearly automatically slipped into.

She didn't want him to be nearly done.

She didn't answer though, afraid to move as he continued to work on a very complex seal that he was drawing on her large forehead, this time with his own blood to properly channel the natural chakra to protect her.

He smirked as he looked down at her. "At least you have enough space there." He teased her, knowing that she wouldn't be able to lash out, before focusing on his work once again.

Sakura couldn't help but be amused, though she still shot him a dirty glare for the good measure. "Whatever you say _Naruto-sama."_ She mocked him back, causing him to scrunch up his nose at the formal title.

After another half an hour, he finally drew back. As he let his eyes travel over her body to check the seals, she knew that he was studying her for the last time as well, just like she was studying him, trying to engrave his image into her mind, never to be forgotten.

However, the time that was left was not unlimited, so the blond ninja slowly nodded. He then carefully drabbed her own favourite cloak on her shoulders, making sure that the blood had dried as he did. She smiled ruefully at the gesture.

He met her eyes. "Be careful."

"Thank you. You too." She said and returned the smile that he gave her.

"What are friends for?" He grinned as he glided back to stand out of the circle, making sure not to stand on any seal on his way out.

"Are you ready Sakura-hime?" Naruto asked her softly, not even caring to hide the tears that were building up in the corner of his eyes.

"I'm ready Naruto." She confirmed softly.

"It will hurt."

"I know. Don't stop feeding me chakra whatever happens though, do you hear me?"

"I know." He said. He despised the idea of hurting her, but he knew it was necessary.

"Be sure to make the future blossom alright?" He told her seriously, though a happy glint in his eyes was visible. He was happy that they would get the chance to make a difference and he trusted her completely to make the right choices.

She just hoped that she would be able to do it.

"Make the future blossom." She repeated with a sad but hopeful smile, easily realising that he had chosen those words for her.

"I promise." She echoed.

With a last determined look and a smile, Naruto placed his hands above a special seal connected to the large seal that she was sitting on…

"Here we go."

They both went through the necessary long sequences of hand seals.

"Release." They both muttered and a moment later the cave they were hiding in was overloaded with chakra as the diamonds on their foreheads dissolved.

"Seals Activate!" They both echoed – to make sure that the timing was just right – as they both slammed down their hand on the seals right in front of him on the floor.

… And not long after that her senses were overloaded with pain before she slowly – oh so slowly – was whisked away and everything went dark.

Only the floating image of those sad blue eyes was some comfort for her.

'Bye Naruto-kun.'

**~End Chapter~ **

I nearly finished the next chapter so hopefully you guys enjoyed this one.

Till next time!


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: Haruno Sakura was used to Naruto's bizarre plans, but this one really topped it. In an attempt to change the future for the better, her best friend sends her back to the past to infiltrate their own home. The medic planned to do this as discretly as possible, but she should have known that even with a second identity, it wouldn't be that easy.

Beta: None

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.

I'll skip the talking this time. So please Read, Enjoy & Review!

**Make the Future Blossom**

**Chapter 2: Orange Mock**

_~ Deceit~ _

'For the love of-!' Gritting her teeth, the new time-traveller swore under her breath as pain overloaded her senses.

A groan was all that could escape her lips and even that made her throat burn painfully.

Sure, Sakura had expected to feel _horrible_ upon waking up – it was demonic chakra after all - but the agony that she currently endured still beat her expectations.

The natural chakra was nearly all gone. The leftovers slithered over her body, trying to cool the worst burns.

She didn't rush herself, deciding that it was important to take this slow if she wanted to be able to move in the next few hours. Not to mention that she might black out from the pain if she did. So instead, she took a moment to enjoy the cold stone cooling her cheek and the fresh air that was sucked into her lungs.

It had worked.

Right?

She forced her eyes to open upon the sudden distress that accompanied the question and relaxed when she saw the familiar cave. Of course her senses had been right...

No Naruto.

Her heart clenched.

She was now completely alone in the past.

The reality of it all suddenly crashed down upon her and her control broke apart.

Her body protested painfully as she let out a sob, but it didn't stop her from letting her emotions go. It only took a few minutes for the eyes to dry – he said to make the future blossom, she told herself – and for her to pull her act together. She couldn't afford acting weak.

A determined frown appeared on her forehead and her eyes gleamed. She groaned as she heaved herself on all fours. The last drops of her tears dripped down her nose onto the ground. She stared at them for a moment before snapping out of her thoughts.

She wouldn't mourn the loss of her future until much later when it was safe.

It was hard to push the pain aside, but having experience in that department helped. After all, living a life as a ninja was hard and pain was nothing new for her.

With difficulty, she eventually managed to sit up. Breathing more heavily that she liked to admit, she automatically checked herself over and winched when she noted the burnt patches of skin across the sides of her stomach and chest. They seemed to have been focused on the chakra points of her body where there had been less blood-drawn seals to guide the demonic chakra. It must have built up on those places, rendering the natural chakra unable to protect her properly.

She was suddenly glad that Naruto had practically hovered her entire body with seals.

Gritting her teeth, she put her hand above the dark skin on her left hip and let a little bit of green chakra take off the edge. She didn't have a lot of chakra to heal it completely, but she had to avoid it getting infected. It would be very embarrassing to die from a simple infection like that.

After having taken care of two more places- one had been difficult to reach because it was one her back – she finally found the last one.

It wasn't on her face, like she had feared. The seal that Naruto had planted on her 'big' forehead seemed to have prevented that. Her throat however, was not as lucky.

"Sght" Sakura coughed and her hand flew to hear throat. She had not even managing to curse under her breath. 'This isn't good.'

A familiar iron taste appeared in her mouth and she spat out the blood that she had coughed up.

Clearing her voice, she tried to talk but there was no sound. Her voice was gone for the moment.

Remembering her own screams a little too well, she tried to gather a little bit of chakra to check her throat. She only got a glimpse of the demonic chakra gathering there to realise that she was in quite a predicament.

One, by now her chakra reserves was nearly empty. She probably didn't have enough to fight or even manipulate the amount of demonic chakra present. Two, this meant that she couldn't heal her throat, so no talking during her travels until she had fixed it somehow. She would need at least a few days rest.

She sighed in defeat and checked the rest of her appearance, her dizziness finally ebbing away. As she had expected, the cloak had been completely burned as well.

Well, she was glad that Naruto had looked ahead – he had his own experience with the fox's chakra – and made sure to give her a special tattoo for the trip. It was often used to store small weapons on people's arms. With much difficulty, the Fūinjutsu Master had been able to enlarge it to hold two small sealing scrolls.

The sealing space was small, but sealing two sealed scrolls in it solved that. Deciding that the small sacrifice of chakra would be worth it, she bit her thumb and smeared her blood over the seal on the inside of her arm as she added a little bit of chakra to it.

With a small cloud of smoke, she held onto the two scrolls that held the meagre belongings that she now possessed. They had been wrapped in a new cloak, similar to the one that had been burned. She winched as she felt more chakra disappear than she had expected, making her feel slightly disorientated. She decided against unsealing her usual outfit and put her scrolls in the inner pocket of the cloak instead, before slipping it on.

'Great, got my voice messed up and unable to use chakra for a few days if I want to get rid of that chakra anytime soon.' She grumbled. 'Great way to start this whole thing.'

With a sigh she flipped a strand of her hair out of her face, before she froze. She grabbed at the strand of hair to look at it more closely again and her eyes widened. The color had changed, making it darker and redder. Almost a plum-like color actually.

Her fist hit the floor to give vent to her frustration.

Damn, that cursed chakra. As if her voice wasn't enough.

She wasn't sure how she felt about it. At one side, she had just avoided some future problems concerning the Haruno's familiar hair-color. On the other side, she had just lost her signature that had made people recognise her as Haruno Sakura.

'That's the whole point Sakura.' She reminded herself, gritting her teeth.

'You aren't Haruno Sakura anymore.'

Judging by the lump that appeared in her throat at that thought, it would take a while for her to accept it though.

**_~ A few weeks later ~ _**

This sucked.

Stupid demon fox.

While she had already been able to seal the accessible leftovers of the Kyuubi's chakra with a diamond seal hidden behind her right ear – no matter how small, you never knew when it would come in handy - it still messed up her healing.

Just a few more days and she would be able to fix whatever it had done to her vocal cords. Still, being the kunoichi that she was, she found the way that everyone underestimated her to be pretty appealing. Sure, getting some looks of pity was getting on her nerves every now and then but it would be a small price to pay for being underestimated.

How foolishly naïve people were. Not being able to talk didn't make her any less dangerous.

Not that the woman in front of her seemed to think her as such.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry."

Sakura smiled harmlessly at the elder woman – she was a trusting and helpful type, she could tell. It had taken the woman only five minutes of watching her roam around with a confused expression on her face to walk up to her and asked her if there was anything she could help her with. Though Sakura was sure that she was most likely just wondering what a young woman like her was doing in this nearly nameless 'pit' that could be considered a very small village.

It didn't take long for her to realise that the 'poor dear' couldn't talk. The scar of her burnt throat - which no one would ever believe to be a third-degree burn from a few weeks ago – was hard to miss once the purple-haired woman had moved away the small scarf that she had started to wear to protect the tender skin. Even though she didn't need it anymore, she hadn't bothered to stop wearing it.

The Kunoichi waved away the apology and words of sympathy and handed her two slips of paper.

The elder woman read it quickly and raised an eyebrow. "Sasaki Ume? Yes I have known her very well. She passed away." Her eyes became sad as she stared at the second paper that was actually an 'old' picture of Ume.

Sakura made sure to look sad at the comment as the woman studied her carefully.

"You are her cousin? I'm sorry to say that she never talked much about family. You do have a hair colour that reminds me of her though." The woman nodded as she turned around, missing the annoyed twitch that her last comment earned from the 'poor dear'.

'Her mother' had been called Ume for exactly that reason. Sakura's new colour was lighter and a bit redder compared to the woman's on the picture, but the similarity was still there. Even with her own hair colour it would have been convincing for her to be 'Ume's' daughter. Silver-haired men were not that uncommon in these lands. Having a cross of those hair colours as parents could explain it. It was one of the reasons why they had chosen this identity. It was almost like an irony that the change in hair colour made the match even better.

"I don't mind telling you about her, but I warn you, her story is a sad one."

"Would you like to have some tea while we are at it?" The woman asked, looking at her.

Sakura nodded and bowed in thanks before following the woman. As they entered a small house, she was ushered into the room and told to take a seat. It took only seconds for the kunoichi to survey the woman's home. When she came back, Sakura smiled at her. She sat straight, like the polite young woman she was expected to be – as if she hadn't just snooped about and spied on the woman while she had prepared the tea.

Sakura looked curiously at the picture that she had been given. Sasaki Ume looked a little older in this picture than the one that she carried with her.

"She came here about twenty years ago. Your Aunt was a great woman, always willing to help everyone. She was a great healer as well. If anyone even coughed, she would appear at their side and fuss over them until she was sure they were completely healthy. It didn't even matter that she was pregnant. She would help _anyone_. A bit of a hypocrite she was too… She wouldn't accept any help until it was really necessary."

Sakura couldn't help but smile sadly as the woman shared more stories with her. She made sure to pay attention, wanting to know the woman that sounded like a great co-medic.

The woman – Choko-san - she had been told somewhere in between when she realised she hadn't introduced herself yet, sighed sadly.

"She had a miscarriage. She was heart-broken. She had looked so much forwards to having a daughter. She was always singing to her, you know. I wish I could have helped her somehow, but – "

Sakura swallowed slightly. Somehow these stories made it so personal. Hearing someone who loved the Ume tell her about her was so much more than just reading the information on paper. She sounded like a great mother… much like her own – she had to push those thoughts away for another time. She would try to make this woman proud of the legacy that she would be.

"She wasn't seen much. She kept to herself on the outskirts of the village." - Good, Sakura thought. "She was still always ready to help though. We had hoped that she would get out of this depression she had sunk into. Eventually, something went wrong… Her daughter would have been sixteen the next day… Her house caught fire that night." The woman's voice broke. "We never know what had started it, but …she was found dead next morning… It seemed like she had started the fire herse–" She swallowed and remained silent.

"Some more tea?" Choko eventually asked as Sakura thoughtfully went over what she just had been told.

'Time to act'. She decided before she nodded.

The woman stood and left the room to prepare some more. She was not aware of the fact that Sakura was right behind her, fishing a paper tag from her pocket.

'No time for feeling guilty.' She reminded herself.

She coughed softly, causing the woman to turn around. Before Choko could even realise what was going on, one of Naruto's seals was gently slapped across her forehead. The woman's eyes went blank and dropped ever so slightly.

Sighing in relief, she went thought a few hand seals, preparing Ino's jutsu that had made this seal such a success when it concerned larger alterations. While it didn't work on ninja, for the few months that it had existed, it had become very useful for cover-ups when it concerned civilians.

If only Ino had been around to see it work…

Shaking away those thoughts, she put her glowing hand on the seal and closed her eyes. She focused and with practiced ease, she started altering little bits of information as she spoke up.

"You will forget that this is the first time that we have meet and what our conversation was about. You know that Sasaki Ume did not have a miscarriage. Instead she had a healthy girl, whom she adored and taught a lot of her skills – healing especially. The two of them where shy, both living at the outskirts of the village.-" The kunoichi started her story, making sure to match everything as closely as possible. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would be enough if someone – anyone – came snooping. She continued to speak about Ume and Hana's relationship, Hana's own personality and their reputation.

"Just the day before Hana turned sixteen there was an _accidental_ fire." She continued, having to match the woman's date of death but decided that to relief the woman of some self-inflicted blame.

She would have to mark the cottage that they lived in to give signs of an old fire and repair later on.

"Sasaki Ume didn't survive it and died from the smoke in her lungs. Sasaki Hana was heartbroken and rarely got out of the house afterwards. During the fire, a burning wooden beam fell on her resulting a burnt scar on her throat. She didn't speak anymore after the incident. You are unsure whether this has to do with injury or trauma. She goes to the forest often, taking long hikes and disappearing for few days at a time to gather herbs like she and her mother had done. Sometimes she disappears without anyone noticing until she comes back. You assume that everyone in the village knows about her already, so you won't bring up this subject."

After she was finished a few more details – those were important - she opened her eyes. She knew that the brain would automatically fill in some of the gaps left, but those were dangerous when it came to large groups. After all, all victims of the jutsu would fill those in to a different extent. Luckily the village wasn't too big. Glad that the jutsu and seal had worked, she slowly slid the paper off her forehead. Her hand enveloped with green chakra and she placed it on the same place, trying to calm everything. It was very tiring for the civilians. About ten minutes later, the woman snapped out of it.

"Oh Hana? I'm sorry, I must have lost myself in thought again. Now you really should visit more often dear. Sometimes we barely know that you are living here." Choko told her, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I feel somewhat tired, must have been the tea. Maybe it is better if you come back tomorrow."

Perfect.

'Naruto, you and your father are freaking sealing geniuses…' She thought, remembering him talking about loads on notes and theories he had spit through to be able to design this seal.

Now she only had a few more people to go.

As she left the house, Sakura tried to shake off the nasty feeling that she got from playing with someone's mind like that, even though she hadn't actually hurt anyone. If anything, she had given her better memories than the one that she had of Ume.

Hopefully, if she would ever meet her in her afterlife, Ume would forgive her.

**_~ About a month later ~ _**

It was an odd sensation to infiltrate one's own home, like this.

Lying low on the roof, camouflaged by the dark grey colour of her cloak and the thin black cloth wrapped securely around her head, Sakura patiently waited for the right moment to move.

She had already manipulated the thin line of chakra near the hidden entrance on the roof of the Hokage's Tower. Now she only needed to keep it steady while waiting for the right moment to act. She didn't know what she would have done if she hadn't had the help of the future Rokudaime to give her directions on where and when to move. Not to mention that she was glad that it had all been recorded in the future Hokage's achieves, so she knew what to expect.

Otherwise it might have been a lot more nerve-wrecking to break into the records of the civilians in order to replace the Sasaki Ume's recorded DNA with one that they had fabricated to match her own as being her mother.

"This is so troublesome." She remembered Naruto complain when they had gone over all the details, echoing their late lazy friend in the process. At the time she had reprimanded him, seeing as the details were important, but having to go through all of it, she couldn't help but silently agree afterwards.

Considering that she hadn't even registered herself as a Konoha citizen by now, she couldn't help but sigh at the work that was still in front of her.

Her eyes caught movement on the left and she watched as the sneaky ANBU circled the tower once again. She had to wait for the right moment to slip right through them. She watched them carefully, searching for any moment of inattention or distraction.

Now.

Like she had practiced so many times before, she let the chakra in the seal pull her, enhancing every muscle in her legs to match to speed.

With a silent 'woosh' she flashed on the roof. Within another few seconds she had slipped through the hidden entrance, making sure to stick to the ceiling as she entered the building.

It took about half an hour to swap the files and five minutes later, she was outside once again.

'Stage two complete.' She told herself, feeling a bit of the weight on her shoulders fall off.

She took a deep breath of fresh air.

'Now time for Sasaki Hana to enter Konoha.'

Just as she was about to slip away, Sakura detected a familiar chakra. Had she not been on alert for the chakra signature many years in the future, she would have most likely missed it. However, she had been afraid for Uchiha Itachi for a long time, so as soon as she felt it, her old instincts screamed at her that he was near.

It reminded her of a certain – very important – incident that was coming closer.

Yes, she would have to 'move to' Konoha soon.

**_~ A few days later ~ _**

"Welcome to Konoha Sasaki-san." The brown-haired man smiled at her in a practiced manner as he stamped the paper.

It didn't proclaim her an active ninja, but gave her the status of one mainly because of her medical experience. As she had expected, her muteness helped her seem unsuccessful as mission-material for the low fighting-skills they thought she possessed, so she had been accepted as a medic in society instead. It made the whole mess of acting mute worth it. Now she would be able to keep an eye on everyone.

"Thank you Minami-san." Mouthed 'Sasaki Hana', smiling a bit more convincingly at the man.

Unknown to the man, it was a smile of relief and achievement.

She had infiltrated for mission quite a few times before, but the moment of being accepted into Konoha was more relieving than any other missions before.

She was glad that the ninja in front of her could read lips like most of them could. It would have been a real pain if she had to write down everything. Just before she had left her 'home village', she had decided to remain mute. While she could quite easily heal her vocal cords if she really wanted too, it was easier to keep up her mute image if she actually couldn't talk, plus it prevented her from being 'useful' kunoichi material. Being mute was considered to be inconvenient after all.

Provided by the 'documents' from her own village – she had paid a visit to the man in charge of documenting such things – she had made sure to write down that it was unknown whether her muteness was induced by her psychological trauma or through actual injury.

Even if any medic ninja would check it, she could easily prevent them from healing it. She had the skills. Knowing how to fix something, made it much easier to break something down as well. Tsunade was one of the best and she had learned the best she could. It would be somewhat fun to see them try actually.

"Ano, Minami-san. Where do I have to go when I want to open my own small clinic?" She mouthed, making sure to articulate as much as possible.

"A healing clinic?" The man asked, glancing at the file that stated that she had her skills had already been tested and deemed to be chuunin-level medic-wise and genin-level fighting-wise.

Sakura had always been told that she had small chakra reserves. Not much higher than a Chuunin. Until a few years ago, Sakura would have been bothered by it. However, in comparison she was as efficient with her chakra than even her Shishou probably had been.

So being underestimated for a higher-genin level to lower-chuunin level Kunoichi overall, did not really bother her at all.

She didn't want any attention on her right now.

Being stared with some suspicion when she was healing someone to test her skills… now _that_ did bother her.

Luckily, skills like these were always considered useful to a ninja village, seeing as there were never quite enough medic-ninja. So it wasn't quite surprising that she was congratulated and accepted for a special integration program as soon as they had checked her background – this made all the work to cover up worth it. She knew though, that she would have to go through several phrases of tests and assessments before she would be able to handle cases completely freely.

They wouldn't allow her to work in hospitals for a long time – too close to injured ninja, should she prove to be a spy – and had been keeping an eye on her the first few months, but Sakura didn't mind. It was nice to have a change of occupation so to speak. It was also good to know that people didn't trust just any medic, but it had been slightly painful to see Konoha ninja suspicious of her. She would just have to prove her worth.

At least, she would be able to start a little shop with her knowledge of plants and herbs.

"Yes. Though I was told that I will need some supervision until for the first few months, so I was hoping to produce my own herbs and medicine instead." She smiled a bit more passionately this time, which was noticed by the man in front of her.

Of course Sakura already knew that the administration would be in the tower as well. As a matter of fact, it should be just down the hall. No need to return later when she could get everything sorted out now.

The Chuunin in front of her hummed thoughtfully, whom allowed himself to open up a bit more after having seen the excited gleam in her eyes when she spoke of her plans.

"You have knowledge of herbs as well? I see." A worthy medic she might turn out to be. "Well if you just go to room 224 on the right, you can –"

Sakura smiled at him and nodded.

She already had a place in mind. It was in a less well-off corner of Konoha, but that made it only a better location. The fact that it was the neighbourhood where Naruto had his apartment might have just been a coincidence.

Yeah right.

**_~ Three weeks later ~ _**

Sleeping was difficult for Sakura. Her mind constantly went back to her memories, to the future and to the blond friend that she missed so much that her heart ached painfully. Now that she finally finished setting up her second – or what would actually be her first – identity, she started thinking about those things a lot more.

She felt like she couldn't stop thinking about it at all.

Just like she was thinking right at this moment, while she was putting all her stock in place. She had unsealed a few things from her sealing scroll, while others, she had collected and prepared on her way to Konoha and while she had stayed in the village. With a sigh, she returned to her task, rattling off different names of herbs in an attempt to keep her mind occupied. About half an hour later she was about to run out of things to recall, but luckily she was already finished.

'Finally' Sasaki Hana thought as she put away the last of her herbs on the shelves.

Looking around, she was proud to say that she was finally ready to open her clinic. It had taken a lot of oaths and tests to be allowed to, but she was finally allowed to open her clinic.

And boy, Tsunade-shishou had made sure that her skills were worth a lot.

Until then, it was a pain to fill out paperwork in order to be allowed to do a higher healing jutsu under supervision of another ninja to make sure she didn't mess up – hell, she could outperform any medic-ninja in the hospital.

Well, she guessed that meant waiting for time to pass. In a few years, she would hopefully be able to enter the hospital if she wanted too. Or maybe she would prefer her own clinic by then. It wasn't that important. As long as she had a job – it had taken quite a lot of money to buy the clinic - and a good cover, she was satisfied.

Doing one last sweep of the shop, she decided to open the clinic tomorrow. While she could open right now, she needed some time to focus on something else- something far more important.

The Uchiha massacre.

Sasuke.

**~ End Chapter ~**

(coughandItachicough!)

Hope that you enjoyed the chapter and I would love to hear from you.

Till next time!


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: Haruno Sakura was used to Naruto's bizarre plans, but this one really topped it. In an attempt to change the future for the better, her best friend sends her back to the past to infiltrate their own home. The medic planned to do this as discretly as possible, but she should have known that even with a second identity, it wouldn't be that easy.

Beta: None, so please bare with the mistakes.

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. Never have and never wil...

I'm not sure whether I must be bothered by the fact that writing this seems to be so much faster than my other larger stories, or to be simply be happy that inspiration in coming my way...

Anyway please Read, Enjoy & Review!

**Make the Future Blossom**

**Chapter 3: Adam's Needle**

_~A Friend in Need ~_

**_~Sasuke~ About five weeks later ~ _**

Everyone was death.

His Auntie and Uncle were dead too.

For a young boy, no matter the fact that he was part of a ninja clan, this was unreal.

Sasuke stared with horrified eyes at the scene in front of him. People he had known, loved, littered the streets with puddles of blood surrounding them. For a moment, he couldn't quite keep his gaze away from their blank and empty eyes. Something inside him broke, making it difficult to think.

He was absently aware that the rate of his heartbeats rose dramatically, his breathing became ragged and his surroundings started swaying ever so slightly. He felt his whole body tense up in fear as his brain tried to accept what had just happened.

Dead.

They were all _dead_.

After having been frozen at that horrible realisation for a few seconds, the young Uchiha was snapped out of it by a horrible thought.

Mom.

Itachi.

Dad.

Where were they?

His primal instincts took over and the seven-year-old ninja ran towards his own home as fast as his feet could take him. He stubbornly ignored the corpses surrounding him, reminding himself of the training that he had had. As he ran, his tiredness was pushed to the back of his mind – he had to get home, damn it – as he rushed over to the people he loved.

Tears were building up in the corner of his mind as he started to realise that his own precious people could be dead as well. He searched the front of the house, but couldn't find anyone.

'But if they aren't here…where are they?' Sasuke thought. Inspiration hit him quickly and he bounced towards the room at the back of the house.

Why? Why was this happening?

His eyes widened in recognition when he saw the familiar door ahead. However, instead of bursting through and yelling out to his parents and brother, he found himself frozen in fear just outside the doors. His hands hovered over the handle as his mind went blank but one thought.

'What if they _are_ dead?'

Sasuke swore that he heard the calm voice of his brother coming from behind the door, but the boy was afraid that he was imagining it. His hand trembled and he forcefully closed his eyes to steel his nerves as he drew the doors open before he could change his mind.

His eyes widened when he saw took in scene in front of him.

There were two figures lying on the moonlit floor – his parents, he realised with a gasp. Two other figures were standing each on opposite side of his parents, facing each other in the shadows. As both figures glanced his way when he entered, he could make out the familiar face on his the left. He realised with relief that at least his Nii-san was fine.

The boy's eyes immediately narrowed with spite at the black-clad stranger that was crouched right next to his mother on the ground, a hue of green chakra surrounding the hand that was touching his mother's chest. It was only logical to him that this stranger had to be the culprit.

Still… why didn't his brother do anything?

"What is going on?" He called out, narrowing his eyes on the green chakra and rushing forward to protect his precious people.

He stopped when the stranger suddenly lifted his hand at him, motioning to stop. Feeling as if the ninja was threatening to kill his mother, he reluctantly listened but shook from fury nonetheless. He wasn't strong enough, he knew, but that didn't explain why his brother wasn't doing anything.

"Nii-san why don't you stop him?!" He yelled out, feeling angry. He didn't understanding why his brother was merely staring at the stranger, seemingly studying him. He should have comprehended – or killed – the infiltrator for what he had done!

His glare was boring into the cloaked figure, trying to discern some physical characteristics from below the hood, but everything was carefully hidden. The only part of the stranger that wasn't covered by black were the man's point and index fingers, as he wore some kind of odd fingerless gloves.

The stranger didn't pay him any mind, but was instead focused on the ninja opposite from him, just like Itachi was focused on him. Noting the tension in the legs, the ninja was ready to jump away at any moment's notice though.

Sasuke growled out when he realised that they were ignoring him and felt abruptly unsure whether he should attack the stranger that was – wait…

'Isn't that a healing jutsu?'

He was _healing_ his mother? But then why was his brother acting so wary towards this ninja?

A sinking feeling appeared in his stomach. It was true that his Nii-san _had_ been acting oddly the last few months, a traitorous part of his mind whispered to him.

"W-what is g-going on Nii-san." He called out again, now even more confused and feeling even more helpless than before.

"Is Mother still alive? Who is that? Did he kill everyone? Why? Wha-" He was cut of when a shuriken passed his head.

He hissed out when the pain from being cut on the cheek registered. His first reaction was to look at the stranger in the room, but he hadn't moved. His eyes widened when he saw his brother slowly move his hand back to his side, as if he was showing him that he had been the one who had attacked him on purpose.

"Foolish little brother."

The fear and panic that had disappeared the moment he had seen his brother, now returned full-force.

"W-what?"

He took a shaky breath as he looked his brother in the eyes and saw them change. They morphed into the familiar Sharingan, but the design was something that Sasuke hadn't seen before.

"Mangeky-" Itachi started, but trailed off when the stranger that had been facing him suddenly appeared right in front of Sasuke, forcing him to break eye contact.

Startled, the seven-year-old reacted automatically and tried to attack the figure. He didn't come far though as he was quite gently swept of his feet and held on the ground with a firm foot placed on his back. Even as he tried to twist away from under the foot, which he couldn't, there came no pain like Sasuke expected. The pressure on his back was strong and though it wasn't painful, he still panicked.

"Nii-san!" He cried out in horror, begging for help but went utterly still when he saw the odd and icy look in his brother's eyes.

The traitorous part of his brain whispered a possible answer for the current situation. The fact that his brother- who had been showing dislike to his clan for a while – might have actually killed –

'No, he wouldn't.' Sasuke didn't belief it. He didn't want to.

There was a tense silence as the seven-year-old couldn't do anything else but remain frozen on the ground, feeling very conscious of the fact that the ninja restraining him could kill him at any second.

"Why do you protect him?" Itachi suddenly spoke up, questioning the stranger, who didn't answer. Instead, the ninja merely tilted his head to acknowledge what he said.

Sasuke's eyes widened at the implication.

"Protect? What do y-"

"Foolish little brother. It was me who killed everyone." The original Uchiha heir revealed with a very blank expression.

"You are lying!"

Itachi didn't even seem faced by his denial. Instead, he held up a kunai. A second later, a kunai was flung into his Father's leg and Sasuke suddenly felt like throwing up.

"You really…" He chocked on his voice, unable to finish the sentence.

He tensed when he saw Itachi take a step closer to them. "Don't kill me!" He yelled out, suddenly afraid.

The hold on his frame disappeared at his show of distress and he scrambled up. Noting the fact that the figure moved in front of him in a defensive stance, instead of grabbing him like he had feared, gave him some reassurance. His hand clutched around the figure's robe without even realising it.

This stranger was possibly his only escape – his only protection from his brother - he thought with a shudder.

'Why?' He thought, clamping his hopes to this mysterious cloaked stranger that even seemed to make his brother wary.

"Why!" He repeated loudly, tears finally streaming down his face.

"To see what I was capable of." His brother told him, his voice colder than Sasuke had ever heard before.

"What you were capable of?" He couldn't understand. "That _was_ it? You killed everyone for that reason?" He accused, furious, tears rushing down his face as emotions overwhelmed him.

What had gotten into his brother's head?

**_~Itachi~_**

The female ninja – it had taken Itachi a while, even with the Sharingan, to pick up the very subtle clues that were there- had barged in just a mere second after he had cut down his parents' throats.

His heart had been very heavy as he had done this, but he deemed it necessary. He would serve Konoha as he had done all his life. Still, he had to admit to himself that his mother's dead had hit him harder than his father's and couldn't help but feel the guilt building up as he did so. For all the love that she had given him, he now took it away.

He had always suspected that she hadn't even truly supported Father's ideas, but without prove, there was nothing he could do. She had moved to fight against him and therefore she had given him no choice.

He was snapped out of this emotions the by strangers appearance. As Itachi had still been prepared to fight, he had acted instinctively when the ninja had appeared.

He hadn't even sensed her well-hidden chakra signature just before she stood in front of him. Even now, straining his keen senses at such a close proximity, he couldn't read enough of her signature to be able to recognise her chakra in the future.

He had never encountered such control of chakra before.

Not to mention that Itachi had been surprised when the strike directed towards the ninja was simply parried and he was pushed away. The female ninja didn't make a move to strike back however, like one normally would have done, which made Itachi curious enough to see what was going on.

The ninja was clearly on the defence and lacked the reflexes of an offensive fighter.

It had only taken a few seconds for this exchange to happen and the newcomer had immediately taken his curiosity to her advantage. Seeing the stranger rush over and crouch down next to his beloved drying mother and _somehow_ heal the most fatal part of the strike made Itachi mentally choke though. He had never seen anyone do that. He had made sure to strike in a place where his mother would die quickly.

At most she had had only five more seconds to live and even then the woman had started healing – therefore wasting her chakra in the presence of an enemy - one of the few family members he actually deeply cared for. His eyes had snapped to the glowing aura surrounding the hands as they started knitting the wound together and his mother's ragged breathing actually continued.

Five seconds had passed. Ten. Fifteen. His mother was still breathing.

Striking down his mother when they weren't facing him was one thing, but he couldn't take away the second chance this healer was giving her.

_Healing_.

It had been a gift that he had always admired from the bottom of his heart. It might even involve a little jealousness. The gift of healing was so much better than destroying.

As such, he found himself unable to make the stranger stop. Instead, he had been transfixed, fascinated, by the process.

"Why?" He asked instead.

The kunoichi didn't answer him. She barely raised her head in acknowledgement even though he could easily see that she was ready to defend herself. Her pose screamed defence and alertness at him. Yet, besides the wariness, she didn't seem to fear the traitorous ANBU captain in front of her.

"You know more about this don't you." Itachi prodded. The ninja was far too calm to react like this. He barely managed to pick up the tiny nod of the woman's head.

"Are you from the council?" He pushed, needing to know whether she was going to make sure he would kill his brother – he wasn't sure how he would react if she were.

It relieved him more than he liked to admit when she shook her head, just before his little brother had barged into the room and started the drama that Itachi had prepared for.

What he hadn't prepared for was that the ninja was actually protecting said boy when he was about to knock his brother out with the Sharingan.

Why?

"What you were capable of?" Sasuke repeated Itachi's words, nearly chocked on his voice. He clearly couldn't grasp what he was telling him. "That _was_ it? You killed everyone for that reason?"

_Monster._

"It was important." The older Uchiha confirmed but tensed when a shuriken flew over his shoulder. It had been aimed very precisely, having only cut a strand of his hair. It had been the only reason why he hadn't moved. It had not been aimed at his body, he knew. His Sharingan had flared to life and told him this the moment the ninja had moved her arm to throw it towards him. No, the shuriken had been a message.

The stranger was telling him something.

She knew that he was lying and she wanted him to… what did she want from him? To tell the truth? He wasn't going to do that.

Narrowing his eyes, he tried once again to look into the ninja's eyes, but the cloth that hid her face made him unable to. This ninja had been prepared.

'Is she with Hokage-sama?'

He flung a kunai back at her, cutting part of the hood and forcing it to drop back. He narrowed his eyes as he took in the cloth that covered the person's entire face. She had indeed been prepared.

'Fine then.' He thought. He would find out why she was here later.

"Don't you mess with me!" His brother called out and brought his attention back to the matter at hand.

He had already seen the attack coming before he had even started the conversation, but he was somehow not very surprised when the ninja grasped the back of the raging boy's collar and kept him away from him by pulling him back behind her. Itachi slowly unclenched the fist that he had prepared to use.

The anger in the boy's eyes made his heart drop, but he took advantage of it nonetheless.

Forcing himself to keep his expression and tone empty, he stared at the brother that was struggling against the hold, tears rolling down his face.

"Foolish little brother…"He repeated. "You are lucky that you can hide from me, though you aren't even worth killing right now. You will probably never understand my reasons. I can already see the hate in your eyes growing. So if you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me. And yet survive in an unsightly way. Hide, run and cling to life, and when you have the same eyes as mine, come to me."

His eyes travelled to the figure of his mother.

"Or you might not be able to protect her like you are being protected now."

Then, with a spurt of speed, he moved towards the pair. As predicted, the pair dodged – though the frozen Sasuke was more like being dragged along – allowing him to slip away from his home. His village, which he would leave behind in order to keep an eye out for this new organisation called Akatsuki.

However as he passed, he could help but look the stranger in the eye, seeing the faint outline of the eyes behind the thin cloth that was covering the woman's face.

'Look out for him.' He tried to tell her with a soft glare.

He couldn't be completely sure that she understood what he was telling her.

"I will." The soft whisper that followed him – barely perceivable – still caught him off guard.

For some reason, this made Itachi feel a lot better. His little brother would still have his mother. He wouldn't have to lie to this self-proclaimed "Madara" about the intervention either, which allowed one more precious person to remain alive. There would still be hope for the clan to be reborn into something greater, more peaceful.

Had it not been for the ninja, he would have been forced to take another route. He had been planning to make his brother hate him so much that he would kill him. That he would be strong enough to fight this "Madara" that had met him. This kunoichi had messed up his plans and as much as he hated when that happened, he couldn't help but be somewhat grateful.

'How did she know though?'

Flashing through some hand seals to get him away before other ninja would catch up to him, he decided that he would just have to watch them from afar.

After all, maybe this path would be a better one.

He would just have to wait and see.

**_~Sakura~_**

Sakura stared after the empty space from which the ninja had just disappeared, suddenly glad that she had been careful to disguise herself as well as she had done. The cloth enveloped her whole head, hiding her extensive features for those who would somehow be able to see through or break the complex Henge that she had adapted from Naruto's horrible– dare she say it – Sexy no Jutsu.

Having concluded that Itachi had really left the scene, she allowed herself to let out a soft sigh of relief – she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders – before she glanced down at the trembling young boy that was currently clinging to her waist. He hadn't moved an inch away from her after she had pulled him away from the fleeing Itachi.

He had probably thought that he had charged at them.

It was so disturbing and heart wrenching to see her future teammate in the state he was in. He was so young as well – like Itachi had been. It still managed to catch her off guard, no matter that she had seen them walk down the street once in a while. Acting like the loving brothers that they had always been meant to be.

Had she looked so innocent back then as well? Even though she had been here for nearly two months, she hadn't dared to check up on her parents and 'herself' yet. The day that they had died… it was still too fresh on her mind. Not to mention that there was no way that it wouldn't be disturbing to watch, let alone interact with… a past version of herself.

Shaking herself out of the memories that were threatening to resurface, she looked down bring herself to focus on the current situation.

Slowly placing a soothing hand on the young Uchiha's head, she tried to give him a moment of comfort.

"Take a deep breath Sasuke." She whispered to him, keeping her voice as low as possible. "In and now slowly out. Now relax, everything will be alright."

Sasuke didn't stop shaking, but followed the advice of the 'shinobi holding him nonetheless. He barely noticed it when she knocked him out with a short rush of healing chakra, which would force him to sleep. It was a jutsu that she had frequently used on stubborn ninja trying to get away from the hospital.

As she felt his form slump down against her, she patted his head in a lovingly manner – forcing herself to remember the happy memories that she had from him before he had become… well crazy. He was the old Sasuke that she had cared about, not that shadow that had been left behind after all those years of seeking revenge. Crouching down for a moment to pick him up, she gently moved him to lie next to his mother. She carefully channelled some healing chakra to her hands, making them glow a very familiar green, before crouching down to take care of Sasuke's mother once more.

The Uchiha matriarch was nowhere near healed, seeing as Itachi's attack had cut through part of the spine, but she had been just in time to save her. Though she had managed to prevent real paralysis – a second later or if Itachi made even _one_ move towards her, Uchiha Mikoto would have been unlucky - she probably wouldn't be able to be a ninja in the field anymore.

Yet, Sakura could only be happy that Sasuke would at least have someone to rely on. Someone that would hopefully keep him grounded. As selfish as it might sound, it was currently one of the main reasons why she had saved the woman. She was sure that she was a good person, but it was for Sasuke that she had come out her cover for a while.

She glanced towards the Uchiha patriarch with a slight apology, but she had already known that he couldn't have been saved. A sad truth that she had came to accept through her many years of experience.

You can't save everyone. No matter how much this fact bothered her…

Focusing once again on the woman, she proceeded to heal most of the lethal damage. She would be alright if she were to be moved to the hospital and revalidate for a while. They would heal her there over time, seeing as Sakura couldn't do much at the moment.

After all, faint signatures were closing in on the compound and Sakura couldn't afford to be seen.

So with a last glance towards Sasuke, she quickly moved through a few hand signs and literally flashed away. This time enforcing the original use of the jutsu Naruto had taught her.

It really had been the most important move that Naruto had been able to teach her - seeing as Naruto had reinforced the Yondaime's Hokage Guard Platoon – so she could come to his aid at all times. She could perform it if she was provided with a proper seal not too far away – drawn by the right ink or manipulated with her own chakra. It had been difficult as hell for her to learn and it took quite some valuable chakra, but it was one of the best moves that she had.

The jutsu was one of the best gifts Naruto had ever offered her.

Sakura smiled as she let her chakra guide her towards the pull and eventually ended up in a rundown cottage that she had stumbled upon a while ago in the woods. She checked the seal that she had engraved into the wood and was satisfied that it was still activated. Quickly changing clothes, she made sure to check for any chakra signatures – even possible hidden ones- and used the Body Flicker Technique to get her closer to the part of the village that she was currently living in.

As soon as she touched the ground, she quickly hid and checked again, feeling very paranoid all of sudden.

Releasing the Henge that she had applied on her hair to keep it black, she carefully applied a medical jutsu – one of the few that Tsunade had told her to keep silent about - to turn her eyes greyer. It was the only change that she made sure to keep up as her new identity here.

It made sure that her green eyes wouldn't so vibrant, nor would they stand out so much. Letting out a deep sigh, grateful that everything had gone well, the kunoichi calmly walked back towards her humble abode.

The air was cold and there as a heavy atmosphere in the air, as if the whole village was aware of what had happened. She allowed herself a small grim smile though, as she had finally changed a part of the history that she had known.

Shaking her head, she forced herself to relax. Her body lost its rigid movement and she made sure make a bit more noise as she walked. She didn't know hat had happened tonight. She would act surprised tomorrow and she would forget the pity that she felt for Itachi – the young ninja forced to act as he had done.

No longer was she Sakura Haruno. Instead she was "Sasaki Hana" once more.

**_~ End Chapter ~_**

**__**The first change is set!

vvv Please share your thoughts with me! vvv


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary:** Haruno Sakura was used to Naruto's bizarre plans, but this one really topped it. In an attempt to change the future for the better, her best friend sends her back to the past to infiltrate their own home. The medic planned to do this as discretly as possible, but she should have known that even with a second identity, it wouldn't be that easy.

**Beta:** None

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Naruto.

And here is the next

I hope you like it! Feedback would be very much appreciated!

**Chapter 4: Almond Blossom**

_~ Hope and Watchfulness ~ _

**_~About a week later~ _**

'No matter how many times I walk here, I can't help but remember the ruins that it had become.' The undercover time-traveller sadly mused as her eyes scanned the buildings. 'I wish that Naruto was here to see it.' The thought popped up before Sakura could help it.

It had been already more than two months since she had arrived, but she still missed her obnoxious teammate the most. It just wasn't the same without him.

The kunoichi swallowed, but stubbornly kept her pace.

Walking down the busy street, Sakura pushed those thoughts of the past to the back of her mind as she dodged people in the crowd, careful not to show too much grace at the same time. 'Sasaki Hana' was classified as a mere Medic Chuunin after all. It had been three weeks since the Uchiha Massacre and Konoha was still buzzing with the horrifying event that had occurred.

"Poor boy. At least he still has his mother."

"I never trusted that young man. You could see it in his eyes." Another woman whispered.

"I never expected something like that to happen to the police forces. Not to mention that it was one of their own that killed them all." A man said, shaking his head.

Ignoring the gossips that the ninja part of her automatically picked up, Sakura opened the door to her small shop. Scanning the shelves quickly – every bottle and flask was still in place – she flipped the small sign that would tell costumers that she was available.

Picking up her teapot from the table in the middle of the room, she gathered some hot water from her back room. If someone were to enter, she would notice it immediately, seeing as the door had a bell that would alert her. Not to forget that she was a kunoichi for a reason.

Moving the now boiling water back to the shop, Sakura prepared some of her favourite green tea – Jade Dew. Besides its sweet taste and the aroma, the green tea had a positive influence on the metabolism, decreasing the cholesterol in one's blood and decreasing high blood pressure.

Falling into the routine preparing the tea, Sakura's mind slipped back to her previous ponderings.

It had been a week since Sakura had stopped her frequent secret visits to her future-would-have-been-teammate to check up on him and his mother. It had taken a lot of sneaking around, but her perfected chakra control allowed her to repress her chakra to nearly unnoticeable levels. Besides, years of having snuck around with vibrant pink colored hair that stood out like a soar thumb, as well as having had an orange loving and –very -loud teammate to work with, Sakura more than enough experience to do so.

If anything, she had been disappointed by the amount of security that had surrounded the Uchiha pair. There had been two moments during her short surveillance that she had been able to sneak in. Though, she allowed, it helped that she knew how the ANBU operated, making it easier for her to avoid them.

'Though the Hokage is aware that Itachi wouldn't come back either…' She reminded herself. She suspected that the ANBU guards were more for show.

Well, at least it had allowed her to partly heal a spastic muscle that the medic ninja had been having problems with.

The medic took a sip from her tea, before she set it down it with a disappointed sigh. 'I wish I could have seen the medics faces when they came back though.'

That would have provided some amusement.

'Well at least everything went well. It seems that Naruto had been right about Itachi's reaction after all.'

Not that she hadn't been prepared for any other reactions. She and Naruto had gone through nearly one hundredth different scenarios of the Massacre. Though Naruto had pretty much expected this calm but wary acceptation from the start. Maybe Naruto had even humoured her by brainstorming all those scenarios to calm her nerves… Probably.

'Well a good start is half the battle.' She reminded herself.

The first change had gone as planned.

Sadly it would be one of the very few big changes that the purple-haired woman would make in a while. Sakura and Naruto had eventually decided – after a lot of arguing – that Sakura should stay in the shadows as much as possible in order to maintain a future in which she would somewhat know what to expect.

At least, until the storm would start picking up. She was planning to change all the outcomes for the better.

_"Make the future blossom."_ Naruto's voice reminded her as it echoed in her head.

They had only decided to risk sparring Sasuke's mother – which, beside Itachi, Sasuke had once admitted to be one of the closest family members he had had – because it would help Sasuke in the future.

As much as she would have loved to save all those people, Sakura couldn't have saved the whole clan. She had been send back to a phrase in which the rebellion of the clan had progressed to a level that would have been too risky to interfer with.

However, both Naruto and Sakura knew that Sasuke's betrayal had played a major in the events that had unfolded in their past and it was that part that they were hoping to change.

Still, after a slightly more heated discussion, Sakura had stated that she would try to help Naruto's younger version too, whether he liked it or not. This had caused her teammate to look at her with slightly haunted eyes.

Eventually, the blond knucklehead had tried to explain that he wouldn't be easy to approach. The ANBU were there. The Hokage kept an eye on him. Even if she contacted him, it would only bring attention to her.

Plus, he had argued, minimising the changes would be for the best. Sakura had just waved him off and promptly told him that his happiness meant more to him than having to be a bit more alert about the changes that it would bring.

_"Changes will happen anyway. I could cause a butterfly affect for all I know by just saying 'hi' to someone. The future won't be set, but we still have the basic information and that alone is already important enough."_ She had told him.

_"Besides I have more skills now Baka. You know as much as I that it would only make team 7 stronger." T_he 'which we desperately needed' had been left unsaid._ "So, don't you even dare tell me that you wouldn't do the same, because you damn well would. " _

Naruto had backed off after that. Though she had been more than able to hear the "thank you" under his breath. She hadn't hesitated to give him a hu-

"Sasaki-san?"

Snapping out her of her thoughts, Sakura easily reacted to the name that she had come to be called for the last couple of months – not to mention by Naruto in the future to 'prepare' her.

Looking up from her reflection in teacup that she had been staring at, she smiled politely to the costumer that had just entered her shop. Taking in the woman in front of her, it didn't take her long to realise that this was a new costumer. She didn't recognise her immediately, though she eventually vaguely remembered having spotted her on the street a few times.

Sakura nodded to the short woman and returned the greeting with a polite bow. The woman didn't look surprised by the lack of greeting at all, making Sakura believe that she had been recommended by one of her other costumers.

Her more frequent costumers were, after all, all aware that Hana was mute.

So instead of trying to make a small talk to the owner of the small shop, the newcomer took a curious look around the room. She was playing with her black hair, making Sakura wonder if she was nervous. Patiently waiting for her visitor to finish scanning her shop, Sakura picked up another cup of tea and asked her if she would like to have some with a gesture.

"Yes please." The woman said with a smile.

Brushing her plum-colored hair - she was slowly and somewhat reluctantly getting used to the hair color as well - away from her eyes, she prepared another cup of tea.

The small shop consisted of a lot of shelves on the light green walls and a large oaken desk – one that reminded her of the desk that Tsunade-shishou once broke in her anger - at the end of the front room. She moved over to the small table with chairs that stood in the centre to make the woman some tea and motioned her sit down on the opposite chair.

Accepting her invitation, she started explaining what her problem was. "I-." She blushed somewhat. "I'm going to travel next month and I heard that you have these medicine that would pause the cycle for a while Sasaki-san. However, I am allergic to a few herbs and medicine. So I was wondering if you could-"

Encouraging her to keep talking, 'Hana' took out a small whiteboard to start writing.

For a moment, all Sakura's problems faded to the background as she focused on the problem of the woman in front of her. How small the problems that had reached her might be, it allowed Sakura to focus on small things - things that didn't involve messing up the 'blossoming' future as a whole.

And that was just what she needed.

**~ About two weeks later~ **

After about two month of having settled back into her role as medic, the first genin stepped into her clinic. He had gotten injured during training and wanted to go home quickly instead of visiting the hospital because it was his mother's birthday.

He had come across as sceptical of her supossed healing skills at first, but that quickly changed as soon as he experienced it a first hand.

The young ninja stared in wonder as the gash closing right in front of his eyes, her healing going even quicker than that of the civilians because of his chakra that she could easily manipulate - not that she was telling anyone that.

"T-Thanks." He simply said, not daring to say that he hadn't expected this from her – even having gone as far as being overly sceptical towards his friends about this healer his mother had talked about.

When she asked if he had a gift for his mother, he blushed. He told her that there wasn't anything that his mother had wanted and would buy something on the way back to home.

Before the ninja knew what was happening, Sakura stood and retrieved some healing cream for his mother – no need to let the opportunity pass to spread some reputation. The kunoichi had been longing for some tougher – bloodier - cases and dealing with ninja would eventually bring that to her.

When she thought about it, that thought did sound kind of disturbing.

The genin was unaware of her musings and gave a thankful and respectful bow before he paid her the small sum of money for the gift, grateful with the discount that she gave him. He also promised to see her again in the future and to be more careful – which had made her smile brightly – before he stalked off, gift in hand.

She watched him go with a small smile, thinking back her own Genin days.

That felt like ages ago.

Memories resurfaced and nagged her to take some action. So she glanced at the time and nodded to herself.

In a couple of hours, she planned to wake up a certain teammate of hers.

**_~ Few hours later ~ _**

Hidden from view in the darkness of the night, the cloaked figure silently waited for the opportunity to come. She knew it would come. She had seen the men move twice and recognised the routine easily.

She slowly channelled her chakra to her finger, which was pressed onto the roof of the building she was planning to sneak into. The chakra glided down the wall, and slowly into the room that her target was situated. Then, she waited for the one opening to appear.

'There.' With a quick seal, she disappeared with a flash and into the room that her charges were resting.

She walked towards the woman and while keeping an eye on the guards, she let her hands be envelop with green chakra.

Once she had gone through her routine, she neared the young boy and placed a cool hand on his forehead, glowing green once more.

The young boy's eyebrow twitched and then with a sudden cry, Sasuke bolted into sitting position.

For a moment he swore that there had been someone there, but when he opened his eyes, he was alone.

Tears swelled up in eyes before his eyes adjusted to the darkness and noticed the woman on the other side of the room.

He was alone, except for his mother.

"Kaa-san!" He cried, tears escaping as he run towards her, not caring that he set of some kind alarm as he did.

For the moment, all Sasuke cared for was the fact that his mother was alive – she was breathing – and he hugged her as fiercely as he was able too.

He would not let her go, he decided.

Though even when he cuddled against the breathing form of his mother, trying to hide from the world, his thoughts went inevitably back to that horrible night and that odd stranger that had protected him.

He held his mother's hand, ignoring the medic-ninja that were suddenly bustling around him.

'What is that shinobi hadn't been there?' The young Uchiha couldn't help but eventually wonder.

He would have been all alone, he realised and his grip on his Kaa-san's hand tightened at the realisation.

Hidden in a distant tree – having watched the scene unfold - there was a rustling of the tree as Sakura disappeared into the night.

Sasuke-kun was awake.

**_~ Two months later ~ _**

During the next few months, 'Sasaki Hana' became better known around the village. Because of her skills, she was acknowledged to be a quick and skilled medic-ninja. As far as she was aware, no one knew that she was linked to the strange appearance of the black-clad ninja that sometimes seemed to pop up at the oddest moments. The Hokage had alerted many ninja about this 'shinobi's' presence after having heard of 'his' confrontation against Itachi, but 'he' always seemed to disappear when 'he' was spotted.

Thank Kami for Naruto's jutsu and her chakra control.

Just about a week ago, Sasuke had finally stepped out of the hospital. The medical staff had been franatic to not let him leave without perfect health. Not that Sasuke would have complained seeing as his mother was there, Sakura decided.

The moment Sasuke had finally been able to break away from his mother, even if it was just a few hours, the population had practically been buzzing. No wonder that it hadn't taken the gossiping population much time to spread the news. Sakura had kept her tabs on her unofficial patients and was pleased to hear that Sasuke was finally moving about again.

Though she worried about his mental state.

Sasuke's mother, much to Sakura's displeasure, had slipped into a coma from her injuries and trauma about six weeks ago. It was something that she couldn't heal without proper examination, for which she needed too much chakra to do so secretly. She did what she could though, slipping into the woman's room when it was possible. A few times she had spotted Sasuke's sleeping next to his mother, which had made heart heavy.

Sometimes she would have to bolt when the boy awoke from a nightmare. Once he had stared at the spot that she had been standing on for so long, that she had wondered if she had been too slow. To her relief, he had promptly gone back to sleep afterwards.

It was bothersome to work so slowly.

Still, Sakura was – though at a snail's pace - making progress with the little bit of information that she got.

Said information didn't give her much to work with though. In her opinion, there was still too much disruption in the brain to reboot everything. Mikoto would need time to process everything and during this time the body needed to realise that it was safe and should just calm down. Only then, would she be able to help out.

She hated when she couldn't help… If only Ino was there. Even if it was just to tell her to back off and that the brain was a delicate organ that one couldn't force to rush.

She missed that pig.

In the meantime, 'Hana's' life had long since settled into a relaxing routine. Though it would have been much more relaxing if she wasn't on alert any time that any familiar chakra signature came within her range of sensing. Of course, she had long since checked up on a few faces, Naruto – as much as she was able to - Kakashi, Iruka, even Ino and other people from her future. She only completely avoided her own past self so far, uncomfortable with the hard reality of having lost her future with all of her friends.

She wasn't sure what affect her being near her past self would have either… Confrontation was not yet an option.

So she kept a subtle eye open instead.

She loved going out at night, prowling on the roofs and scaring a few people here and there. During these little outings, a few interesting things had caught her eyes as well. She had been sneaking around Konoha in her disguise to keep up her training and information gathering when she had spotted a certain familiar signature. Sakura was still somewhat surprised by the fact that Kakashi was actually one of the ANBU guarding Naruto.

It seemed so obvious now though…

There had always been a subtle way of protection that Kakashi had given Naruto, watching over him from the background, letting him figure it out his own way. He had known Naruto's way of working and growing all along and stuck to it, silently keeping an eye on him as he did.

'Oh Naruto…' She sighed. ' I wonder if you ever realised.'

Some people would probably wonder why Sakura hadn't made a move to meet Naruto yet. The reason why she hadn't been able to approach the young Naruto was because – much to Sakura's frustration - Naruto had proved to be right when he had told her that he would be difficult to befriend.

He was incredibly difficult to approach.

With Naruto being watched most of the time, most likely by _Kakashi_ of all people, it would mean that the ANBU would become suspicious if she suddenly decided to become his best buddy. More important though, Naruto himself would be distrustful of someone walking up to him and demanding to be friends with him as well – no matter how much he would want someone to like him at the moment.

He was not _that_ oblivious.

Which meant that she would have to wait in a sneaky ninja-like manner for the perfect opportunity.

Which was a problem itself.

Sakura _hated_ waiting.

Especially when it concerned those she cared for.

There had been a short period of time in which she had been searching for the young vibrant boy though. She had been unprepared for the homesickness – her own future home – that had overwhelmed her as she had first seen him from the distance and suddenly realised that Naruto might have kept quiet about another reason for being unapproachable.

The boy that she had seen glaring at the people around him was not the happy boy that she remembered him to be. This was Naruto before he had taken up the mask of being the happy but determined idiot to prove everyone that he would be Hokage. The mask that had slowly grown to become more real the more precious people he gathered. She suddenly felt unsure on how to work her way into his life.

Still, seeing as she had a promise to keep to her future friend, she decided to at least help him out with the small things.

She started by anonymously leaving his favourite ramen stand a little bit of money for them to buy vegetables in order to make his diet a little healthier. Her business was doing well enough to cover it. Then she started speaking with villagers, when she heard villagers discussing him. Being the 'outsider' they would overlook her ignorance of the demon container, which she used to her advantage.

It made her glad for the psychology that Tsunade had stomped into her.

A few people made little difference, she knew, but it helped her to built up the reputation that she needed in the end. She was aiming to become known as the mute open-minded medic who wasn't afraid of disagreeing with the people around her.

It was for these reasons why Sakura had been watching her Chibi-Naruto from the distance for the last eight weeks.

Luckily, Lady Luck decided that she had been patient enough and pushed her into the right direction for once - literally.

**_~ Two months after the Uchiha massacre ~ _**

'More ninja are visiting me the last couple of weeks.' Sakura happily mused as went out to shop for groceries.

Walking down the street, Sakura was suddenly caught of guard as something pushed her from behind. Having been forcing herself to keep her reflexes in check she moved her body along with the force and allowed herself to bump into another woman, which she easily recognised as one of her acquaintances that she had become quite friendly with. Sakura had to reluctantly admit that they even might have become friends.

Keiko was seemingly surprised by her sudden appearance, as she had been staring at the collection of masks being displayed in front of her.

As 'Hana' regained her balance she bowed in apology to the woman and glared over her shoulder to see the culprit that had bumped into her. The young boy - an academy student judging from his chakra reserves - who had been fooling around with his friends, seemed to be taken back by the fierce look and apologised automatically, shrinking away from the medic's temper.

The glare never failed her.

Nor did her growing reputation.

"It's fine Hana." Keiko interrupted with an amused laugh as she watched the scene in front of her. "He didn't do it on purpose."

Sakura shrugged and unfolded the small white-board that she carried around.

_He needs to watch where he is going. Had I been an old lady I might have broken my hip. _She argued as she flashed her board to the teen that was watching her warily.

He winched at the writings and quickly disappeared with another bow, his friends laughing at him a few feet away. Turning back to Keiko, she saw the brown-haired woman roll her eyes.

"Seriously Hana. There really wasn't-"

Sakura didn't even pay attention to her anymore, as she was suddenly aware of a very familiar chakra approaching.

_Naruto_.

She forced herself not to look at him as he practically run up – with a certain brightness that she was even more familiar with - to the shop and started looking at the masks that hung on the wall.

"-is just a kid. That glare of yours can be really sca-" She heard Keiko absently continue.

Sakura gulped and shivered slightly as she focused on the chakra that enveloped Naruto's presence. He was so close!

The chakra was not the same as she had come to known – lacking the Kyuubi's and the natural chakra that had slowly interlaced with his own chakra over time- but it still screamed 'Naruto' to her. It made her chakra tingle. Her mind went in overdrive.

Could she somehow make a move? Draw his attention to her? But how?

She glanced at Keiko who was still absently talking to her. She was ignoring Naruto, so she couldn't comment on her behaviour.

Then wha-

"You bastard." Sakura's eyes snapped towards the owner of the shop, who had finally taken note of Naruto's presence and immediately felt defensive as she saw the look in the man's eyes.

Though relieved to have a possible opening, she felt anger rising almost immediately. 'Why can't they just realise that he isn't the Kyuubi? Why can't they put their anger elsewhere?'

She knew it was simply wishful thinking.

"Get outta here!"

Sakura struggled to keep her chakra down as she saw the man push the boy. Standing close by, she reacted almost automatically and caught the young boy. Her repression seals that she wore kept her from moving too fast – she had future Naruto once again to thank for that.

A wave of emotions hit her as she gently held the boy. She probably would have held him longer if Naruto hadn't shrugged her off. The boy gave her an odd look with those confused blue eyes of his. It was a look that she couldn't quite decipher, before his frustration with the man forced him to call him out on his actions.

"What is the matter with you all of sudden?" The blond cried out.

'He doesn't know about the Kyuubi yet.' Sakura reminded herself, keeping herself from interfering.

The man, whom had somewhat cautiously been staring at the familiar form of Hana - well known here for her flawless healing by the citizens surrounding them seeing as this was her neighbourhood – shifted his attention back to Naruto. Ignoring Sakura's warning look, he glared at the boy.

"Why did you come here, you pest?!"

"Why did I come here?" The boy cried out in confusion. "I was just looking at that mask…" He muttered.

Sakura, having stepped away from her teammate, stared questioningly at the young Naruto in front of her. 'Why a mask?' She couldn't remember anything about Naruto having a mask like that.

"This one huh? Keep it and leave!" The owner growled before he threw it towards him.

Seeing it flying towards the blond, she didn't even think. Sakura caught it automatically, only the resistant seals stopping her once again from showing the jounin reflexes that she possessed. She was well aware that the crowd surrounding her had become very silent.

Hana glared at the shop owner; appearing appalled by the behaviour he showed 'a random kid'.

She glanced around, taking in the looks that they were giving her. They weren't angry with her – well, some of them were – seeing as most of them knew that she was a newcomer with no knowledge of whom 'this' kid was. She didn't really care either way.

The looks that Naruto was receiving though… She frowned and stared at the young ninja that was sitting on the ground, staring up at her with surprise. For some reason, his eyes widened as she looked him directly in the eyes and couldn't keep herself from softening her gaze. Her frown was still present but her frustration wasn't directed towards him.

He glanced at the crowd, then at her and then to the crowd surrounding them again, as if he was comparing them.

'He is much more observant than anyone gave him credit for.' Sakura thought with a touch of regret, seeing as she had been one of them.

Looking at the mask in her hand, she knew what to do and held out the mask for Naruto to take. Naruto though, was already distracted.

"What the hell is it? Why are you looking at me like that…?" He cried out to the other people, his back to her.

Sakura didn't think it was directed at her, judging by the odd glance that Naruto made into her direction before he run off. It made her feel slightly better, though the good mood was easily crushed by the treatment that she had observed.

Sakura looked at the mask in her hand and noticed that he hadn't even noticed it anymore. Her heartbeat sped up when she realised that _this_ was her chance. She looked into the direction that the shop owner had stomped off to and met his eyes. She glared at him, as if daring him to demand it back. He seemed to have enough of a survival instinct to recognise the look and uneasily looked away.

He usually came to her when he had his frequent painful headaches so she would have the chance to talk to him if he even dared to show up again.

Her clients and acquaintances all knew her stance about bad behaviour towards other people. To act like that to a _child_ who had done nothing wrong, would be even worse.

She then nodded to Keiko, who looked somewhat uncomfortable about the situation. She had been one of the people whose opinion she had unknowingly managed to sway when it came to Naruto, but she clearly wasn't convinced enough to stand up for him. Letting out a sigh, she turned and jogged forward to chase after Naruto.

She was not going to let this opportunity pass.

Sakura had a promise to keep.

**~ End Chapter ~ **

A few words of acknowlegdement or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Hopefully till next time!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary:** Haruno Sakura was used to Naruto's bizarre plans, but this one really topped it. In an attempt to change the future for the better, her best friend sends her back to the past to infiltrate their own home. The medic planned to do this as discretly as possible, but she should have known that even with a second identity, it wouldn't be that easy.

**Beta:** None

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Naruto.

And here is the next

I hope you like it! Feedback would be very much appreciated!

**Chapter 5: Blue Periwinkle**

~ Early friendship ~

It was only after a minutes of jogging down the street that Sakura saw a flash of orange dodge into one of the alleys.

Following him, she almost immediately felt like she was being watched.

Probably ANBU, she decided with a mental sigh. Maybe even Kakashi?

The thought made her feel oddly nervous.

Stopping at the edge of the alley, she made sure to look unsure - which was not that difficult to pull off as she was feeling quite nervous.

After this seemingly moment of indecision, she entered the shadowed alley and spotted him easily. She couldn't help but feel sad as she saw him sitting on the ground, his legs drawn up to his chest. He wasn't crying, but his body language told her that he could just as well have been.

His head snapped up as she coughed to get his attention. He was about to stand up when she waved him down again and then sat down next to him. She didn't care about getting dirt on her clothes.

With some difficulty, she kept a polite distance from him. She would have preferred to sit closer, but that would be considered unusual so she fought the urge down. Once she sat, she put the mask on her lap, as if it were a peace offering.

"You are that lady that caught me before." He said, staring at her.

Sakura couldn't help but blink as her brain stuttered to a halt after hearing that particular word.

Lady.

He had called her _Lady. _Mentally shuddering, Sakura couldn't help but wonder why she suddenly felt so _old._ She was merely twenty-two, thank you very much!

Sakura could only nod though, before holding out the mask that she had in her hand. Naruto stared at it. His eyes showed her that he was thinking, weighing her intentions, before grasping it from her.

"Thanks." He muttered, suddenly shy. "Also for catching me, I mean."

She watched him run his fingers over the mask, before peeking at her. She smiled at him and nodded, causing him to look at the mask again. After about a minute of silence, she realised that this wasn't going anywhere.

She felt a wave of disappointment and frustration crash down on her.

He didn't want to talk to her then?

Slowly, she stood up. Sighing mentally, she waved at him and turned away, seeing as there was no real reason for her to stay. She would just have to try and come across him another time. Maybe tomorrow she could wait for him to -

"W-wait!" Naruto's voice suddenly sounded so… childish to her ears.

"Err.. I was wond-" He trailed off. Instead a painfully familiar and fake grin appeared on his face. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto." He practically beamed as he grinned at her in an 'I-want-you-to-like-me-please-please-please'-fashion.

He must have had a lot of negative reaction with that name before…Sakura realised. The thought made her gut twist.

She looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. Feeling _very_ much relieved at his proclaimation, she took out her small whiteboard and wrote down her own name. She smirked mentally when Naruto's head suddenly appeared at her side, the feeling of relief almost leaking out of him.

She hadn't shown any negative reaction to his name! He was practically bouncing with joy inside his mind.

"What are you writing?" He questioned before she held up the board to him. "Sasaki Hana?" He read. "Mute?"

Surprisingly it silenced him for a moment before he looked at it with a frown. Sakura wondered if he wanted so see prove and was about to move away the small white scarf that she had come to wear when he interrupted her.

"That must suck!" He suddenly stated.

He didn't show her pity though, just a child-like sympathy, which was a pleasant surprise to her. Sakura pushed the little bit of guilt that she felt about her fake disability to the back of her mind and chuckled a bit.

"How did ya become mute?"

She mentally sweat-dropped, having almost forgotten how little tact Naruto had when he was younger. The look that she gave him must made him realise how rude he was being, because his cheeks flushed ever so slightly as he scratched the back of his head in discomfort.

"I mean… you don't have to tell me Sasaki-san."

Oh so now he was going to be polite?

Humming slightly, Sakura took her whiteboard again and wiped away the text that she had written on it. Then she started scribbling the keywords down.

"Fire accident and you damaged your voice?" Naruto questioned. "How?"

She made a gesture of something hitting her throat.

"Someone tried to cut your throat?" He asked horrified, making her eyes widen.

'No, no, no' She waved in a reassuring manner.

"Wood." She wrote down. "Blunt object."

"You can go mute from that?" Sakura was amused by the fact that he suddenly talked a lot softer when confronted with her silence.

"What happened?"

Nosy little brat…

"Circumstances." Naruto frowned at that and was about to question it but she had already finished the next word.

"So it's a secret?" He stared at her, trying to study her and Sakura gave him a slightly painful smile, recognising so many aspects of the future Naruto, the great friend – no brother that he would be to her.

"Well… if you ever want to tell someone…" He offered, scratching his head awkwardly.

"I will keep it a secret. I promise! I wouldn't tell anyone." He whispered the last part. "Believe it! Not that you have to bu-" He stilled, completely froze up, when he felt a hand ruffle his hair.

'Arigato' Sakura mouthed before smiling, knowing that the simple words could be easily recognised.

She moved her hand into her pocket and took out a card. She swore that she felt some chakra spike as she did so, but ignored it. She gave it to the blond-haired child. He stared at it with confusion, so she took it back for a moment.

_You seem like a good kid, Uzumaki-kun. If you need some tea or need some basic healing, come by. _

She wrote down on the back of the card, before she showed it to him again. He numbly nodded at her and took it as she held it out again. He didn't really seem to know what to say and instead kept looking down at the card in his hand. His finger traced over the first part of her little message, looking a little lost.

_It is nice to have met you, Uzumaki Naruto."_ She showed him her writings on the board that she carried, before putting it away.

Waving one last time, she walked away, feeling much better than she had felt in months. Only being able to save Sasuke and his mother had felt that good.

Glancing back, she smiled one last time at the confused figure of her future knucklehead still staring dumbfounded at the card and couldn't help but wonder if he would look her up soon.

'If not, I will just have to find him again.'

Still, the first step had been taken. Uzumaki Naruto now knew that Sasaki Hana existed.

**~ Naruto ~**

Naruto felt _very_ confused.

That woman, she had looked differently at him than anyone else.

There were a few people who looked at him like that and many of them wouldn't put much effort in helping him. They were the neutral party, not caring about him. Only the Old Man, Teuchi and Ayame seemed to like him. Others didn't dare to approach him. Not willingly at least.

Yet...

This woman… He glanced down at the card that he had been given.

"You seem like a good kid." He muttered the words on the card, before being swallowed by the emotions that suddenly hit him.

He shivered slightly as he slowly turned it over. "Sasaki's Clinic & Herbs" and frowned.

Wasn't that the shop that had opened up a few months ago? He remembered someone mentioning her once, while hiding from some ninja after a prank. Though, he hadn't really cared back then.

_'It is nice to have met you, Uzumaki Naruto.' _

She had even repeated his name.

Naruto frowned at his own confusion and stubbornly pushed the large wave of unstable emotions to the back of his mind.

Why was he acting so confused when this was exactly the type of knowledge that he wanted? The thought echoed in his head, which made him grin. People were finally starting to acknowledge him! Even if it was only one more person, it showed that it was possible.

His thoughts went back to his original plan. Maybe this meant that he would make friends as well.

He grabbed the mask, moving his hand over it to trail the ANBU-like painting. It looked wicked. That would scare those boys for sure! Then they had no choice but to recognize his awesomeness.

Grinning, he stood up and took off. He had a plan to make. His classmates were going to get the scare of their live.

**_~That afternoon~_**

Someone had requested Sakura's help in another part of the village. Seeing as it was nearly considered a hopeless case for the civilians, the medic couldn't refuse. In fact, she didn't even think twice and put a note on the door of her clinic, so the people knew where to find her. If an emergency would come up, they would be able to alert a ninja to get her.

The case had been tough. The cardiac problem had been vague, but it had a problem that she and Tsunade had managed to tackle a few years into the future during her extensive training to cover the differences between healing civilians and ninja. It wasn't a frequent with ninja, as chakra seemed to be a form of protection against the malfunctioning of several factors in the hemostatis process.

Which was good, seeing as a Shinobi who bled to death if he were to accidently cut himself with a kunai would be very problematic.

Sakura stretched as soon as she was out of sight of the home, content that she had helped another person that day. Eager to get back to her little home, maybe Naruto would come by, she sharply turned around the corner and bumped right into- the chakra signature was too familiar!

Damn it, she should have paid more attention.

Yet... his signature felt so clean and bright in contrast to the future version of the boy that she couldn't seem to get used to it.

"I'm sorry." She mouthed at the figure, pushing down her emotions so that she wouldn't show any recognition. "Are you alright?"

The boy in front of her rubbed his nose and glared slightly at her. He didn't seem to understand what she was mouthing him and sighed in annoyance.

"Yeah whatever. No need to apologise or anything…" He grated and moved to walk past her.

'Oh no you don't!'

For the moment she didn't care that she probably shouldn't be seen with him to avoid attention.

There was no way that she was allowing _Sasuke-kun_ to use such an attitude against her.

Matching his pace, she quickly took out her board and started writing. Sasuke watched her with an irritated expression. "Look, just leave me the hell alone! I don't care if you knew my mother. I don't want to talk."

He was about to move further, when she shoved his board in front of his face to read. Unfortunately he didn't seem to understand what she wanted and roughly pushed the board away.

"What the hell are you-" She gently slapped on the top of his head with the board, taking him of guard. He gaped at her blunt attitude towards him. Seeing as she had gained his attention this time, she held the board in front him again.

_"Sorr-"_

_"Wait a moment kid. I might have accidently bumped into you, but there is no need to be so rude."_ He read, which surprised him.

"What? Can't you talk or something?" He grumbled at her, though Sakura could spot a little bit of guilt in his body language.

She shook her head and sighed.

_"So rude. I won't hold you up anymore. Sorry for bumping into you. Have a nice day."_ She scribbled and showed him, before walking away.

A pair of dark eyes stared at her retreating form.

'She says that _I'm _being rude?' He bristled, before another thought popped up in his head.

Well maybe he had been… a little.

'Mother would have told me to apologize…' He thought suddenly and he flinched.

"Ma'am!" He tried, but it seemed that she was already out of earshot.

Sasuke stuffed his hands into his pockets and continued his way towards the hospital. About ten minutes later he opened to door to his mother's room and sat down in usual chair. After staring out of the window for a while, he gave in to the habit that he had slowly developed in the last week.

He told her about his day, eventually reaching that odd meeting before.

"You know Mom… on my way here, I bumped into a lady… She didn't look at me with pity like all those people do. Actually, I liked that a lot."

**_~That night~_**

"Naruto, do you have any idea what you're doing?" Iruka-sensei whispered to him as he stared down at him on the graveyard.

Naruto shivered as he noticed the way he was looking at him.

No way.

Even Iruka-sensei was giving him the same look. The look that everyone gave him… and it hurt Naruto more than it made him angry. Still, it was only through his anger that he could find an outlet.

"What? Why? Why does everyone look at me like that?!" He cried out to the man. "Why do even you, my sensei, look at me like that?"

He looked down and quickly thought back to the kind woman, completely missing the shocked expression on his sensei's face. "Only _one_ person looked differently at me today. The first time in months! And you know what? She was a stranger! So why can't my own sensei see me?" He clenched his fists.

"I'm not an annoyance! I'm not a vermin! I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" He cried out to his teacher, not really noticing Iruka flinching back in shock. He was too angry and afraid to be confronted with that look again.

"I'm never coming back to the Academy again!" He yelled at the ninja. "I will go to someone else who looks at me normally!" He growled.

Not wanting to see the look in Iruka's eyes again, he turned and fled. Putting his hand in the pocket of his sleeve-less jacket he clutched onto the small paper that was there, finding comfort in it.

"Hey!" He heard Iruka call out, but he didn't care anymore.

Running back to his own apartment, he opened it and slammed the door shut. He ignored the complaints that were shouted and walked towards his bed, where he flopped down on his belly. He took his pillow and covered his mouth as he screamed into it. The whole process felt as if it had been practiced many times before.

Eventually, the urge ebbed away and Naruto buried his face in it instead.

He tried to stop thinking.

He wasn't able to...

After a while, he got restless, unable to sleep. Turning around, he ignored the fact that he was still fully clothed and he carefully took the paper out of his pocket. Holding it up in the air above his head, Naruto smoothed out the folds that appeared in the paper. The moon provided the room with enough light to illuminate the paper.

His thumb traced the sentence that made him grin slightly every time he read it. He flipped the paper over, even though he already knew what was on the back.

"Sasaki's clinic & herbs." He muttered.

Sitting up, he glanced out of the window into the direction he knew the shop was…

'Should I?' He thought, but lowered his head as he realized that he couldn't.

'It's too late.' He told himself, not wanting to admit that he was afraid that she would revoke her offer. Afraid that the one kind woman - who had looked at him in a normal fashion - might suddenly change her mind and shut him out.

Naruto bit his lip as he fiddled with the paper, turning it over and over in his hands. He crouched right next to his bed and moved on all fours to reach under his bed. The blond boy pulled at one of the planks away, revealing a small stash of money and few toys and gifts that he had received over the years. Opening a small wooden box, he took one last look at the card – making sure that he remembered the name of the street correctly - and put it in.

'Now it won't get folds in it.' He thought, pleased as he returned everything back to their proper places.

With a long sad sigh, he changed clothes and went to bed, even though he knew that he wouldn't sleep well.

'Maybe I should try to visit tomorrow.'

**_~ Sakura ~ The next day ~_**

The next morning came slowly for Sakura, seeing as she had been hoping to see Naruto appear the previous evening at some point.

'Have I given him a wrong impression?' She wondered, hoping that she hadn't.

It would ruin everything.

Shaking her head, she went through the routine of cleaning her shop.

'Maybe he lost the card.' She tried to reassure herself. Remembering the mess that had been in his apartment and at a later point the Hokage's office, he could totally see that happen to the chaotic boy. She ignored the fact that Naruto had always been able to find anything in this 'organised mess' as he had claimed it to be.

Once she was done with doing the basic cleaning of her clinic, she moved towards the door to open it and to flip the closed sign, when she saw a flash of orange.

Automatically alerted, she watched him converse with three other boys – one of which had bumped into her over the previous day – and suddenly realized that they had been in her Academy class. She had thought they looked somewhat familiar.

Frowning, she vaguely recalled something about them. They had been suspended for a while after they had tricked Naruto into… Her eyes widened in surprise before she forcefully calmed herself.

Iruka would take care of him. Naruto had told her that once. Even Kakashi would chase them.

'They will be fine.' She told herself firmly.

There was no need to interfere. Last time around everyone had gone well. This was the danger that Naruto and she had spoken of in the future. She needed to interfere with this as little as possible, because things could change if she did… like being found out.

Her small meeting wouldn't change today's outcome right?

'Calm down.' She tried. 'It won't.'

Yeah right. She was totally fooling herself.

'Damn it.' Sakura grumbled as went up to her apartment above her shop and activated the chakra seals – once again having been taught by Naruto - that were scattered in the apartment, hiding her use of chakra from the outside.

Channeling her chakra, she sacrificed part of it to form a-

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu" She muttered and watched a clone appear in front of her in a puff of smoke.

She could never phantom how Naruto could make so many. She could make a few, but she did clearly feel the difference, in contrast to her dear hyperactive teammate. At least she would be able to absorb a part of the chakra once the clone came back.

_"Go and trail Naruto for me. Help Iruka out if necessary and if Kakashi doesn't appear. If there is a problem you can't handle yourself, disperse. Try to stay away though."_

"Hai!" Her clone saluted, took the black head wrap that she held out for it to wear and disappeared out of the window, its chakra hidden.

Feeling slightly better, at least less worried; Sakura went back down to open her shop.

Hopefully someone would be there to provide some distraction.

When she saw a certain nervous shop owner appear in front of her door, seemingly nursing a headache, she couldn't help but grin somewhat viciously. She had wanted to speak with him about behavior towards children…

That should suffice.

**_~ Next day ~_**

Sakura turned around when she heard – and sensed – someone enter her shop. Of course, she had been very much aware of the fact that it had been Naruto's chakra coming closer, and of the fact that the boy had been circling her shop about three times before actually coming in.

Still, her heart made a little jump when it was indeed Naruto in his familiar orange outfit standing somewhat uncomfortably in her door opening, obviously considering his options. For a moment, she wondered if he would slip out again.

However, seeing that she had spotted him and the fact that he refused to chicken out like that, Naruto quickly grinned at her. No way of turning back now. Sakura couldn't help but notice that he was looking slightly panicked at the same time.

He was actually _nervous_ to meet her.

"Hi Lady-err…Sasaki-san." He greeted, scratching the back off his head.

He wasn't quite sure what to say. What did one do upon entering a clinic? It wasn't like he had gone to one before. Should he start spouting off his complaints? Should he wait for her to ask him or should he give her something first? He had brought his money just to be sure.

Sakura, unaware of the thoughts going through Naruto's head – though it was clear that he was nervous - frowned when she took in his appearance. Upon dispelling, her clone had revealed that he had hit his head pretty hard, but Kyuubi's presence had most likely taken care of that already.

Still, the protective part of her brain just begged her to check him just to be sure.

She smiled at him, gesturing him to step away from the doorstep. He stood almost frozen as she circled him and turned the sign to 'occupied'.

Pretending not to hear the relieved sigh that he let out as she passed him again, she walked to the back to get him something to drink. She knew by experience that he didn't like tea as much as she did. However, he liked the Jade pretty much, because of the sweat flavor.

Preparing a new batch, she motioned him to sit down on the comfortable chair at the table. He was clearly curious about the products standing on her shelves, but followed her silent order nonetheless. She was actually surprised that he hadn't gone around touching everything yet. Though maybe he would start doing that once he was more comfortable.

She couldn't help but mentally groan at the thought.

Taking out her white board she easily and quickly scribbled down her question.

_"Nice to see you again, Uzumaki-kun."_ He blushed slightly at her greeting, which made her repress an amused smirk. _'Can I help you with anything?'_

"Ehm… I hit my head pretty hard yesterday and I was wondering if you could take a look?" He asked, giving her a puppy-like look.

Inwardly, Sakura couldn't help but snigger at how cute he looked with those eyes, before she saddened. He was really starving for attention. She had known of course, even as a young girl seeing as he had always been asking her out. Hopefully that wouldn't be necessary this time around.

"Sasaki-san?"

Blinking, she realized that those eyes were still targeting her. Seeing as he wasn't acting like his loud and idiotic genin-self at the moment, she easily played along.

_"How did you get hurt?"_

"I kinda fell down from a hill." He muttered, scratching his cheek as she raised her eyebrow at him.

"_Was it a long fall?" _She wrote down and he nodded.

_"Where did you get hit?"_

"Here." Naruto pointed it out for her as he turned his head.

"_I see. I will take a look right now. If anything hurts let me know alright?"_

"Hai."

Putting down the board, she moved right behind him. She could easily that he was nervous. Patting his head reassuringly, she started a diagnostic jutsu that she was allowed to use. She had passed another surveillance period, allowing her to work more freely, which would surely come to good use.

"Hmm…" She muttered, seeing as she couldn't find anything that would indicate that he had gotten hit on his head. Had she been any other medic – not knowing what she did about the blond in front of her– she would have suspected that he had been lying.

Picking up the marker she wrote down a few questions.

"It doesn't hurt since I woke up this morning." Naruto answered. "Iruka-sensei looked at my head just before he went and didn't look worried."

Sakura nodded in agreement, taking a quick sip of tea.

_"It looks fine. As if you weren't hurt at all." _She reassured him.

"Well, I'm not lying…" He muttered upset, causing Sakura's teacup to freeze at her lips.

He stilled as he saw her surprised expression. "I really hit my head!"

Ah, that might not have been the right way to phrase it, Sakura realized, putting her cup back on the table.

_"I didn't mean it like that._" She wrote, while petting his hair with the other.

_"I believe you. Look, there is still dirt in your hair." _She wrote, while fishing some crumbled out of his hair to show him.

She frowned inwardly. 'Didn't he even have a good shower?' She tried to think back about any complaints he had ever said about his apartment. Hadn't there been something about the owner of the complex? She would have to find out.

Unaware of her planning, Naruto's cheeks burned up, clearly feeling slightly embarrassed for the dirt and for yelling at her. "Ah… Sorry I didn't mean to…"

She moved in front of him and smiled at him, effectively showing him that there was no harm done. _"Don't worry about it."_

Then she frowned. _"Seeing as it doesn't hurt anymore, you are fine. You really need to shower though, shampoo your hair." _

"Ah right." Naruto agreed, wringing his hands together in an uncomfortable fashion. He wondered if he should tell her that his boiler had been broken for a while and wasn't about to be fixed any time soon. He sighed, deciding not to put his problems on her. He watched her walk away and stared at his hands in his lap.

'Does she want me to leave now that I'm examined? What should I pay her?'

"Sasaki-san?"

_"Call me Hana." _She tapped the board with a smile.

Naruto grinned lightly. "Hana-san… eh you can call me Naruto as well." He added a bit awkwardly while scratching his cheek.

She nodded at him. _"Naruto-kun then."_ She wrote, causing him to blush ever so slightly.

"How much do I need to pay? I have never been to a doctor before."

_"No need to pay Naruto-kun. I told you to come by and there is nothing serious, so it's for free. Besides, the health system of the village often covers the more expensive costs as well when I treat someone. Especially when it concerns the ninja population." _

Naruto blinked. He hadn't known about that.

"Hai. Thank you!" He grinned, performing a quick and sloppy bow.

_"You're welcome." _

He let out a sigh of relief. 'Wait… I just finished my treatment and there is no need to pay. Do I need to leave?' He bit his lip.

Before he could stand up to leave or ask though, she put a cup of tea in front of him and gestured him to blow it before drinking. Taking her seat at the other side of the table she wiped the board clean and started scribbling.

_"So tell me something about yourself. Are you an Academy Student? What are your hobbies? What are your dreams? Family? Friends?" _The blond read as she turned it around to show him.

Naruto's eyes widened at her request. "Why do you want to know?" He was obviously hopeful to have found someone who cared, which saddened her once more.

She would give him this extra little bit of love that he deserved.

Instead of showing her sadness, Sakura forced herself to chuckle. _ "Consider it payment." _She wrote and stuck out her tongue, to show him that she was joking._ "I'm a curious person, besides it's more fun to talk over tea than to sit in silence isn't it? It's not like I can do the talking." _

The boy visibly brightened and reached for his tea.

Sakura saw it coming before it happened and had tried to stop him, but she was too late.

"Itai!"

Sighing at his typical reckless behavior, she gently took the cup away from him and reached out with her hand to touch his burned lips. He startled back in surprise, his hand moving towards his lips to block her. She gave him a look and gestured him to let her reach the spot and he reluctantly but also looked curious as he did.

She let her index and middle finger hover above the tiny burn and without even having to say anything green chakra surrounded her finger in a soft glow.

She knew that it would be healed within about fifteen seconds without her involvement, but she wanted to show him that she did care for his wellbeing. The future Naruto had told her once that her healing chakra felt calming. _'Like a good massage.'_ He had chuckled at her.

Gently touching Naruto's lips, which caused him to twitch and blush, it only took about three seconds for it to be healed.

She retreated right after it was done.

"That's so cool." Naruto whispered as he touched his lips, obviously having felt the cooling and tingling sensation that remained.

_"Don't forget to blow before taking a sip Naruto-kun." _She wrote, making him grin happily as she tapped the previous sentence that she had written. _"Tell me about yourself."_

A few seconds later, Sakura relaxed as Naruto started rambling to her, eager to share his dreams and hobbies. At first he was reluctant about what to tell her, trying to see if she really wanted to know, but when she scribble down questions, he relaxed. It was during the conversation that Sakura finally felt somewhat at home as another weight fell off her shoulders.

She just hoped that he would keep coming back.

**~ End Chapter ~**

Naruto is caught. Now that meeting with Sasuke just begs for a another...

A few words of acknowlegdement or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Hopefully till next time!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary:** Haruno Sakura was used to Naruto's bizarre plans, but this one really topped it. In an attempt to change the future for the better, her best friend sends her back to the past to infiltrate their own home. The medic planned to do this as discretly as possible, but she should have known that even with a second identity, it wouldn't be that easy.

**Beta:** None

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Naruto.

And here is the next chapter. Pfff... I feel awful, but posting this will probably make me feel better.

I hope you like it! Feedback would be very much appreciated!

**Chapter 6: Buttercup**

_~ Childishness ~ _

**_~ About 2 weeks later ~_**

"Thank you Sasaki-san." The young man said with a relieved voice.

Sakura bowed as the last patient for the day left her shop.

Sakura couldn't help but feel satisfied as she watched the woman walk back home with a happy bounce in her step. The pain in her leg would probably return in a few days, but she had been told to come by again. A few more visits and the nerve would probably be healed.

That was the downside of healing civilians. They didn't have the chakra to support their own injury, meaning that healing it relied only on the chakra of the medic. Eventually it would disperse, often before it would be fully healed. It would take a few visits to fully heal the more major injuries.

Rubbing at her neck, she turned the sign to 'closed'. However, instead of closing the door behind her, she left it opened, knowing that he would come in after her.

Naruto, who had been told to come in if the door was open many visits ago, poked his head through the doorway. Seeing her put an extra cup of tea on the table, he closed the door behind him and moved towards the table to join her. She was amused to see that he seemed a lot surer of himself once the door was closed.

She smiled at him.

_"How was your day?"_

It had become somewhat of a routine for him to visit her at least trice a week after she had 'admitted' to him that she felt a little lonely once in a while. To which Naruto had shyly asked if he could visit her more often. Of course, he could, she had insisted.

The moment he had left, she had done a small victory dance.

"Ne Sasaki-san…Err- Hana-san." He corrected himself when he saw her pointed look. "You are a medic-ninja right? So why don't you heal your own voice?" He suddenly asked after having complained about the boring lessons today.

Sakura looked down at the reflection in her tea and sighed. She wasn't surprised by his blunt question. This was the question that she had been asked many times already – though not always quite so straightforward but still polite.

Seeing as she had gotten tired of repeating herself, she had written down the standard answer on a different paper a while ago. She started shuffling through a pile op papers on her desk, ignoring Naruto's uncomfortable look – probably wondering if he had said something wrong.

Her eye caught said paper on the paper and gave it to him.

"So… either you can't speak or you don't want to speak?" The boy sounded confused after having read through it.

She shrugged and tapped her brain. _"If it is nothing physical then something in here prevents me." _She explained, knowing that she actually wasn't lying.

"Maybe you should go to the hospital!" Naruto stated. "They help sick people!"

'Oh boy.' Sakura thought, knowing that she had _"I'm not sick Naruto-kun." _

"But you can't talk!"

"_That's not the same…"_

Naruto didn't look convinced. "I don't like hospitals either, but Jiji said that they should be able to heal it!"

'Jiji? They have discussed me?' Sakura thought with some alarm, though she had known that it would probably happen anyway. 'So those ANBU _have_ been roaming around this street more than they should have.'

"_I'm sure your Jiji is _very_ wise." _Sakura tried to placate him. 'Wise indeed.' She thought, the image of the Hokage in mind.

"_But I don't think that it is a good idea."_

Naruto frowned and crossed his arms. Slowly a determined expression formed on his face. One that Sakura was very familiar with…

Sakura sighed mentally.

Knowing the stubborn boy, she would give him about three weeks before he would probably pull him along to the hospital himself.

**_~A few days later~_**

Mentally going through her shopping list, the healer nodded politely to the few people who greeted her.

'Need some more rice as well… and noodles.' She decided, planning to make some ramen for Naruto in the future.

'With loads of vegetables...'

She couldn't wait to see him pout.

The medic smiled as she came by a familiar shop. Entering, she waved to Keiko, who smiled brightly at her.

"Hi Hana! Have you finished that book already?"

Sakura grinned at her and gave her thumbs up. _"Arigato."_ She mouthed.

"You're welcome. Want me to recommend something to you?" She asked.

Sakura stared at her for a moment – feeling suddenly somewhat wary – before she slowly nodded and followed her happy friend, who was glad to be able to do something. It had been somewhat quiet today. Slowly a smirk slipped on the woman's face.

'Maybe I can get her to actually read it.' Keiko thought with a mental snicker, unaware that Sakura was giving her suspicious glances.

Stopping in front of some very familiar orange books, Sakura mentally groaned.

_"Seriously?"_ She mouthed, though her expression was more than enough. _"I'm not reading that."_

She already had one at home… one from the original Kakashi and that would be the only book that she would ever read. It was more as a reminder of her old sensei that she had cared about a lot, than anything else.

"Aw, come on Hana-chan! Every woman needs some few secrets to hide."

Sakura snorted and scribbled something down. "_So you enjoy those books?"_

"Well… yeah." Keiko said, not looking embarrassed at all, which reminded Sakura so much of Ino…

She shook her head to get rid of the homesickness that hit her.

"-besides not all of Jiraiya-sama's books are smut for closet-perverted man. Though the rumors about him spying on woman in the bathhouse did deter me from reading his books in the first place as well. But you know how quiet it can be sometimes in this store… so I eventually couldn't resist the temptation. So interested?"

Sakura smirked and shook her head. _"No thanks. I'm not reading anything from that pervert." _

Keiko sighed… "Oh don't be so boring. I understand that thought, but sometimes you just have tor try something new. Besides, not all of these are smut stories you know. There are a few romantic ones that are very good. Just give it a try."

She grinned at the look that Sakura shot her.

"Doesn't have to be an Icha Icha!" Keiko repeated with a wink.

_"Pervert."_ Sakura mouthed.

"Oh don't be like that Hana-chan!" Her friend laughed and patted her on the arm. "You know what? I will give you a discount if it is a book from Jiraiya-sama."

Sakura glared at her as she pleaded, knowing very well that she wasn't able to say no to her like that. She was her only friend in this world and she desperately needed the comfort and companionship that it made her feel.

The bell of the door rang.

"Fine." Sakura mouthed at the woman and Keiko grinned victoriously and turned around. "Alright, I will see you in a minute then. I will go help the other costumer."

Sakura crossed her arms as she inspected the row of books critically. She didn't really want to read anything like that, though… she had always wondered why Kakashi-sensei had that fascination with the whole series. The book that she had read hadn't been that bad, but it was not addicting or anything...

She blinked when her eye suddenly caught a small blue booklet in the bottom right corner of the bookshelves.

'Isn't that…' She wondered, remembering Naruto tell her about a book that Jiraiya had written when his mother had been pregnant.

Slowly she took it out and opened it.

_'Naruto heaved himself up, not deterred by the forced thrown against him…' _She read.

Grinning, she turned around and walked towards her best friend.

_"Found something."_ She mouthed, not really caring if Keiko was able to read it or not.

Squealing at the fact that Hana had actually listened to her, Keiko frowned when she spotted the cover and sighed in disappointment.

"Of course, you were able to find the only non-romantic from there. I didn't even realize that we had one of those left…." She grumbled. "Just you wait, Hana. I will get you to read the rest eventually!"

Sakura snorted and thanked her as Keiko handed her the purchase after she had scanned the summary at the back of the book.

"Seriously, Hana, what is it with you and 'Naruto'?" She huffed.

There was no malice in her voice, so Sakura wasn't angered.

Instead, Sakura simply shrugged, smirked and waved her friend goodbye.

Keiko would never realize just how happy her friend was to have that particular book.

**_~ Half an hour later ~ _**

'Well, time to get back.' Sakura decided as she heaved the heavy bags from the ground.

At least, she was about to when she noticed the chakra signature of Sasuke coming closer. Now _that_ was interesting… Squatting down, pretending to rearrange some stuff, she waited for him to come closer.

She couldn't help it, but Uchiha Mikoto's coma wrung her the wrong way. She had Sasuke becoming more and more depressed the few times that she saw him and it kept bothering her. She hadn't saved the woman for her to only make Sasuke depressed. Even though the anger was less visible, the depression would get to the boy eventually.

So she was going to check up on him.

Though their meeting would be purely coincidental of course.

Who cared that some might call it spying?

Sakura quickly studied Sasuke from the corner of her eye the moment he appeared. He still didn't look like he had had a good night sleep. Seriously, didn't those medics at the hospital keep an eye out for him? If anything, they could use some medical jutsu to get him to sleep longer.

Though it wouldn't surprise her if Sasuke were pretending to sleep when they checked.

Sneaky bastard.

Satisfied – for now - that the boy was at least managing to go out and about, she moved to stand and go home. However, unexpectedly her plans changed when she noticed that Sasuke was actually walking towards her.

"Ma'am?" She heard him ask and looked at him in surprise.

_"Hello Uchiha-kun."_ She returned politely, when noticed that another familiar chakra was approaching her from behind.

Oh oh…

Sasuke, unaware of her worries seemed somewhat put off that she knew whom he was. "Ma'am, I just want to apologize for acting rude the other day."

'Ma'am?' Sakura repeated, sighing mentally. 'First _Lady_ and now _Ma'am_?'

"I was upset and wanted to get to my mother as quickly as possible. I'm sorry if I insulted you in any way about your muteness." Sasuke told her a bit awkwardly before giving her a quick bow.

Sakura watched the boy in front of him in surprise. She didn't know why he was even apologizing, but she could help but be pleased.

_"That's very nice of you."_ She smiled at him, all to aware that the brat behind her could interrupt their conversation at any-

"Hana-nee-san!" The little bundle of energy exclaimed as she felt his short body hug her from her side.

Even though Naruto had called her that once before, it still took her of guard.

_"Naruto-kun."_ She greeted him silently with a smile, patting his head to calm him down and put her finger to her lips. 'Be silent for a moment.'

She smiled apolitically to Sasuke who was staring at the two of them with a somewhat painful expression.

Fishing her board from her backs, she started scribbling. "_Apology accepted. I understand. I'm sorry for being so blunt towards you as well." _

She showed him the words and felt Naruto leave her side to read what she had written there.

"Teme what are you doing here? And what does she mean with 'Apology accepted'? Did you hurt her?" Naruto demanded, clenching his fist.

Sasuke was snapped out of his thought and sneered at his classmate, though Sakura could see the jealousy flashing through his eyes. "Whatever Dobe, it doesn't concern you. You are so rude dropping into our conversation like that!"

Naruto growled but blushed nonetheless. "Well, Hana-nii-san is very nice, so I wanted to make sure that she was alright! And don't call me Dobe! Teme!"

"But you _are_ a Dobe! And don't call me Teme!"

Sakura suddenly felt a little dizzy. These arguments were too familiar! And these two were being so childish! Had they always been like that? Even at that age? Those two had never grown up at all. Memories tugged at her rather painfully and Sakura had to take a deep breath to calm herself.

'Geesh… were the three of us really so oblivious of our behavior back then?'

"Dope!"

"Teme!"

"D-"

"Itai!" Both boys exclaimed as they were both hit with Sakura's small whiteboard.

Rubbing their heads, they looked at her in surprise and confusion.

"Why did you do that? He was being mean!" Naruto demanded.

"I was being mean? What about yo-"

They were rewarded with another whack – though gentler this time.

_"Stop being so childish. If you want to fight, have a spar or something!" _

The two huffed and glared at each other, unaware of the eyes that were on them. Sakura noticed though and waved cheerfully to the people that were sending her glares of having the demon and the Uchiha so close together. The one's that dared to approach were shot a warning glare that made them back off.

Someone dragged off a friend who had a been about to comment on her rudeness, aware of the woman's temper.

Sakura gritted her teeth in annoyance when she heard the boys whispering insults to each other, thinking that she wouldn't hear. Alright, that was it… this wasn't planned at all but seeing as they had met either way, they better learned to get along. Maybe… maybe if they became friends right now… then Sasuke wouldn't…

Pushing those thoughts away, she tapped the brats' heads again and pointed to the bags on the ground.

"But Nee-san..." Naruto whined, understanding what she meant. Sasuke glanced at him in confusion. Was she really telling them both to carry her heavy bags for her?

_"If you have the energy to argue like that, then I'm sure you two – being the strong boys that you are - can help me carry this back." _

The two glared at each other but didn't protest.

She shot them a pointed look that got them to pick up said bags. They huffed and grumbled all the way.

"Stupid Teme… This is your fault."

"If you hadn't come, then we wouldn't have fought."

A cough silenced them but they kept shooting glares at each other.

They didn't see the smirk that appeared on Sakura's face as she watched them from the corner of her eyes.

_"Are those too heavy for you boys? If so, I can carry them myself?"_ She showed them the board, knowing exactly how they would react.

As expected, both boys protested almost immediately.

"It's not that heavy." Sasuke grumbled, heaving the bag higher to get a better grip.

"No way. I can't carry this all the way to your house Nee-san! Don't you worry!" Naruto grinned at her, trying to give her a thumps up as he held the bag to his chest.

"That is not difficult at all, Dope."

"Teme! I bet this bag is heavier than yours!"

"Whatever Dope! You are looking tired already… No need to use such excuses!"

Sakura wasn't sure how to react to the emotions that were filling her. At one hand she was filled with happiness that the two of them were bickering like they used to and on the other hand she could help but feel tired and like she could cry.

They bickered all the way to her clinic, giving the population of Konoha quite a show that they had never seen before. The village pariah and the only Uchiha Heir _willingly _walking next to each other – no matter that they were bickering - was a sight that none of them had ever expected.

Keiko watched the three figures walk down the street and shook her head in disbelief at she saw her good friend gently whack the boys on their head when their bickering got too loud.

The moment that she had met Hana, she knew that the woman was different. Especially having noticed the way that Sakura disliked the way Naruto was treated had set her apart from the rest of the few newcomers, who often adapted to the attitude of the rest of the villagers. It was only because she was so good at her job and her willingness to help everyone that made the people respect her enough to put up with her new… 'foxy cub' following her around.

If anything, people were getting used to it… just a little.

Now it seemed like she might add another brat to the list.

One of the last Uchiha of all people.

'Only you Hana…' She couldn't help but grin. "Having those ducklings follow you like that… You really are one hell of a woman."

**_~ At the clinic ~_**

Sakura smiled at the boy's who lay sprawled out on the floor.

_"Thank you very much for helping me, boys. Would you like anything to drink? I will take care of those muscles in a minute." _She asked by holding up the board to them.

"Tea please!"

"Water."

She nodded and walked away, easily picking up the bags and taking it with her as if they were nothing.

The two boys stared after her in amazement before Naruto burst out laughing.

"What the hell Dobe?" Sasuke demanded, though he wasn't really angry.

"She had us there!" Naruto grinned as he stretched on the floor.

"She did that on purpose." Sasuke concluded.

"Duh!" Naruto agreed, laughing.

"Then why are you laughing?"

"Well, we had fun didn't we?" Naruto grinned as he rolled around to face his stuck-up classmate. Though now he thought about it, he wasn't really that bad. Throwing insults at each other had actually become kind of fun… like a game… after a while.

"Besides, it's a good training exercise too!"

"Hn…" was Sasuke's only reply, suddenly realizing how loudly and expressive he had behaved on their way back. The last couple of weeks, he had never done anything like this. Instead, he had been brooding, though he would never admit that.

Naruto groaned. "Not those responses again. You are _so_ boring."

"Hn…" Sasuke repeated, hiding his smirk.

"Whatever Teme…" Naruto grumbled, though there was no ill intent behind the word.

Sasuke, having finally been able to catch his breath couldn't deny that Naruto was right. He had been having fun.

_"Hello guys. Caught your breath?" _Hana showed the board as she entered with their drinks. Putting it down on the table, she moved over to them and waved Sasuke down as he moved to get up.

"Yes!" Naruto exclaimed as he realised what she was planning.

" Thank you Nee-san! Wait till you feel this Sasuke, it is like a massage!" Naruto explained excitedly as he flopped over on his belly.

Hana chuckled and shook her head as she sat down on her knees next to him. Sasuke watched with interest as her hands started glowing a light green color, which almost immediately seemed to mesmerize him. He had seen so many healing techniques the last weeks, but they were still able to catch his attention every time he saw it.

It always made him think back to the mysterious ninja that had saved his mother at the last moment. Without that shinobi… he would have been alone. He hoped he would be able to thank the ninja for saving his mother sometime in the future.

At least… if she ever were to wake up again.

He suddenly wanted to leave.

Naruto didn't notice his troubled expression as he was enjoying the sensation of his muscles being relaxed by Hana's chakra. He hummed in appreciation and groaned in disappointment when she canceled the jutsu. Letting out an amused sound, she looked at Sasuke questioningly, having noticed his change of attitude.

He fidgeted.

"Your turn Teme."

"There is no need." The Uchiha quickly said, even though he was suddenly very curious. "I think I need to get going. I'm sorry for taking up your time."

"Don't be such a jerk Teme! Nee-san got you something to drink and all she wants to do is help." Naruto protested as he got up and reached for his classmate's shirt to drag him over to Sakura.

Sakura sighed and grabbed Naruto's collar to stop him. She shook her head at him. "If Uchiha-kun doesn't want me to heal him, then it's not necessary."

"But!-" Naruto was silenced by her hand, which then pointed to the tea waiting for him. '_Drink and sit down'_. She gestured him. 'Writing' she then told him with familiar gestures that she already had used before.

Naruto got the hint and let them talk, though he didn't look happy with having to do homework.

Sakura turned back to Sasuke, who was watching their interaction with an odd expression.

Sighing she started scribbling.

_"I know that you are having a difficult time Uchiha-kun. I'm sure you have heard this many times before, but if you need my help, you can just come by." _

For some reason, this offer sounded far more genuine that any others that Sasuke had heard before.

"Why would you offer me something like that Sasaki-san?"

_"Call me Hana." _

Sasuke nodded reluctantly. "Hana-san. Why?"

_"Because sometimes people need distraction. Sometimes they need someone to talk to – I'm a very good listener."_ She chuckled at that sentence and Sasuke couldn't keep down a smile at her odd humor_. " Sometimes people need acknowledgement."_ She glanced back to Naruto who was practicing like he told her. _"Sometimes, people need a place to feel at home. Sometimes, people need a new start."_

The words hit home a little too hard for Sasuke and a lump in his throat made it difficult to swallow.

"How did you know?"

She simply tapped near her eyes. Sasuke stared at the light grayish green color and couldn't help but notice…

"Which part are you?" He questioned, taking Sakura off guard.

She smiled, though it contained a certain sadness that made Sasuke feel like she understood him better than he had thought.

She circled the words 'distraction' and 'a new start.'

_"Mainly those." _

Sasuke stared at the words, unsure of what to do. He was jerked from his thoughts when a small piece of paper appeared in front of him. He saw Hana smile at him as he reluctantly took the paper. It was a business card.

"Sasaki's clinic & herbs." He muttered. When he looked up, she had moved to the table and was helping Naruto, who grinned at her.

He looked at the board in front of him and noticed that another sentence had been added.

_"You're welcome anytime. Give your mother my greetings." _

He bit his lip, stood up and walked towards the door. He was about to slip out without saying a word, but he changed his mind as soon as he put his hand on the doorknob.

"See you tomorrow Dope. Thank you Hana-san." He said with a small bow and quickly slipped out, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Naruto watched him go with an odd expression on his face. A nudge from Hana, made him smile somewhat embarrassingly as well.

"It's just… he is not as bad I thought he was. Well he is, but…you know…" He ducked his head.

Sakura smiled and ruffled his hair.

She understood.

'Maybe… maybe he will come back some time. I don't know whether I should have done it, but I couldn't have let him walk away with such haunted eyes.'

**_~ About a week later ~_**

Much to Sakura's relief, Naruto continued to come back about two to three times during the next week. Although she assured him that he was welcome, he was still clearly worried that she would have enough of him if he visited her every day.

He couldn't stay in the afternoon, seeing as she had people over a lot, but as soon as she closed down, he would often appear after dinner to spend the evening with her.

'Hmm… maybe I offer to make him some dinner next time.' Sakura thought. 'I still have those noodles. Or maybe I can make soup."

She sighed a little as she thought back to Sasuke. She knew that he was someone who didn't make any quick decisions to come to a person for help. He probably would show up next week if he decided to come or he would try to forget about their little meeting all over again.

Naruto had complained that Sasuke had returned to being all broody again in class after all. However, he had reluctantly admitted that he had returned a greeting when he had called him out.

Sakura had rolled her eyes when this greeting had unsurprisingly been a "Teme"-"Dobe" exchange.

Maybe she should 'accidently' bump into him again on the street?

Sakura didn't get the chance to elaborate her new idea as she was startled by a voice.

"Yo."

Said voice was a little too familiar for her liking…

Not that it was entirely unexpected. Now with having become friendly with Naruto and somewhat friendly with the last Uchiha heir, it seemed that the Hokage had wanted to know a little more about her after all.

Still… why did it have to be him?

**~ End Chapter ~ **

(Somewhat sarcastically:) "Guess who that is?"

How will he react when Sakura seems to figure him out a little too quickly?

Please share your thoughts about the story/chapter/your day!

And _Happy Valentine's day! _


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary:** Haruno Sakura was used to Naruto's bizarre plans, but this one really topped it. In an attempt to change the future for the better, her best friend sends her back to the past to infiltrate their own home. The medic planned to do this as discreetly as possible, but she should have known that even with a second identity, it wouldn't be that easy.

**Beta:** BYoshi1993, thank you very much!

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Naruto.

Dear all, thank you very much for all the support! All the comments and faves warm my heart and therefore I present to you this extra long chappie just for you guys!

Also thanks for the reminders about nii-san/nee-san. Hehe! Oops! I'm probably not going to make that mistake again.

Anyway, I can't wait to know what you think of this chapter, seeing as it is a part of the story I have been waiting for!

Enjoy!

**Chapter 7: Yarrow**

_~ Healing ~_

"Yo."

Her head snapped up.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Time seemed to slow down when her eyes landed on his figure and the wheels in her mind started spinning.

Sakura had recognized his chakra signature only a few seconds before the man had called out, giving her just enough time to school her expression to mere surprise. Still, the shock of actually seeing _him_ so close in front of her, _alive, _was enough to give her a startled expression.

Her hand had automatically reached for the small weapon pouch that she had hidden under the white coat. In it, she carried one of _his_ favorite books, a way of remembrance.

She had even read the damn thing once.

However, coming face in face with her future sensei - he seemed to be somewhat amused by her reaction - calmed her slightly. He must have thought she had made a move for a weapon. Luckily, her reflex had turned into her advantage. He wouldn't know the reason for her reaction. He wouldn't have a clue that she was only reassuring herself that it was _not_ the Kakashi-sensei from her future.

Putting a hand on her chest, Sakura breathed out slowly before shooting the man a pointed glare.

Of course… being that annoying sneaky mean little shinobi that he was, Kakashi had evaded the little bell at the door.

Well at least she gave him the genuine impression that she was not as skilled as she really was.

If only she managed to stay calm during the rest of this meeting, Sakura absently hoped.

It was more difficult than she had anticipated.

The greeting. The voice. The chakra signature. Kakashi actually standing in front of her. A lump formed almost automatically in her throat as memories resurfaced. She hadn't heard his voice for more than a year ever since he had… died. Damn it! She had spent hours talking to him at the Memorial Stone!

She took a slow breath and softened her glare ever so slightly.

Even though she had been spying on him a few times before, to be actually with him in a room like this was very confronting.

Seeing as Sakura had spent years working with the man in front of her, she had automatically taken note of his familiar chakra signature ages ago. However, as he seemed to pass her shop many times over the week, she had tried not to pay much mind to it. Instead she had been too busy squashing her hope of meeting him any time soon.

And yet, here he was, right in front of her. She had expected some surveillance after she had started hanging out with the 'village pariah' and having been seen with the 'Uchiha heir' but not _this_. Well, she actually had; he was one of Naruto's ANBU after all. It was probably his job to find out what was going on in the brat's life.

But she had still hoped it wouldn't come to this.

Not yet.

It was difficult to keep the odd expression off her face, seeing he had been one of the people that she had loved and respected. Not even Sasuke had gained as much respect as she felt for this man.

She stubbornly fought down the urge to run towards him, hug him and take a deep breathe of his familiar scent.

'He looks so much younger.' Sakura realized as she openly stared at him with wide eyes. 'No.' She reminded herself. 'He's not younger. I am much older.'

It took just another moment to realize that she really, truly was in the past.

Time seemed to speed up again and Kakashi shifted his stance to a seemingly resting one – though Sakura wasn't fooled by it for one moment.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to scare you. Are you Sasaki Hana?" The silver-haired ninja drawled.

'Liar.' Sakura thought, but nodded at him nonetheless, shaking off the last shock that she felt from his appearance.

She wasn't sure how to respond to him. What did he want from her? Sakura knew that he wouldn't _just_ _enter_ an unknown clinic like hers.

Was this a test of some sort?

Instead of riling herself up with all those questions, she took her escape route, snapping into her 'medic-mode'. She had automatically taken in his ragged appearance when he entered already, but now started studying him more carefully, not even bothering to hide it.

He clearly just came back from a mission. His arm had been sliced, possibly gone through his triceps. The bleeding had stopped and she narrowed her eyes at the spot. She wondered if that still was that weak spot of his. It had given him – and her - more than enough trouble in the future.

'Or is this the incident that started that in the first place because it had been messily healed?' She thought, furrowing her eyebrows. 'I will have to prevent that.'

It might have been the cause of his death in the end…

That thought that was forcefully pushed away again.

With a critical eye – knowing that this particular Jounin preferred to hide as many injuries as possible – she noted that Kakashi also seemed to prefer to put his weight on his left leg, which was unusual.

That would be something to look at as well. She would also make sure to check the right part of his back, one of the tiny blind spots that he possessed.

As she neared him, she couldn't help but to slightly narrow her eyes, her questions resurfacing.

Why would he come here?

Her reputation was growing, that she knew.

Chuunins were visiting more frequently now. Also, a batch of genin seemed to be delighted to have her clinic on their route from the training grounds to their home. Still, was it really the right time for someone like _him_ to _trust_ her?

What did he want from her?

She was pretty sure that he didn't come completely willingly despite that she had passed all the tests, made all the oaths and had showed her rising potential.

Knowing him, Kakashi was probably trying to stay away from the hospital – he hated being forced to stay there – but had been told to have a checkup anyway. That, or the Hokage wanted him to check up on 'Sasaki Hana' after hearing about Sakura's involvement with the infamous Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto was probably still proudly praising – and more than likely gushing about - his newfound friendship with 'this nice healing lady' to the Hokage.

Either way, whether Sakura was being tested or not, she wouldn't let Kakashi out of the shop before he was fully healed.

Medic's pride and all that.

"Are you done?" The Jounin asked her after a minute, having stuffed his hands into his pockets as he waited for her to finish openly studying him. She frowned slightly at his attitude – having known him as more aloof and less cold– but that was probably because she was a stranger to him.

It still hurt though.

Feeling once again a wave of homesickness wash over her – she missed her old trustful Kakashi-sensei, the one who would tease her and pat her head and sometimes hug her and care for her and protect her and spar with her and… - Sakura gestured for him to come in as she walked to the door and flipped the sign that would tell the visitors that she was occupied.

_'Lip reading?'_ She mouthed, though she was fully aware that Kakashi could do it.

"I can." Kakashi agreed, his eyes glancing over the room after having barely glanced at her lips.

Letting the Jounin and undercover ANBU look around as he pleased, she asked him if he wanted any tea.

"No thanks." He said smoothly and unsurprisingly, too paranoid to accept anything from a stranger.

_'How can I help you and may I know your name?' _

"Hatake Kakashi. I was hoping for a quick healing. People have been praising your work." He said, slipping off his Jounin-vest automatically, but holding onto it nonetheless.

'Yeah… people like Naruto right?' Sakura thought absently.

_"Anything urgent?" _She automatically asked in return, though she hadn't spotted any life threatening injury.

"No, I'm fine."

She nodded professionally.

_'The hospital must have far more experienced healers Hatake-san. I may have had a great teacher, but I warn you that I have only recently been allowed to heal freely. I can understand if you were to prefer your own people.'_ Sakura lied on the first part, more than aware that there was probably no one there that approached her level of chakra control.

Tsunade had told her many times during her rants about the previous medical staff that she was worth about ten medic-nins. Sakura still wasn't sure if Tsunade hadn't been a little too drunk or whether she had been honest. While Sakura had improved a lot since the war, she doubted that she could actually replace so many people. Even though Tsunade-shishou had told her that she might surpass her just before her beloved mentor had…

She swallowed.

"I don't like hospitals." Kakashi spoke up, having obviously caught her sadness but he didn't comment on it.

Oh right.

Sakura shook her head and focused back on the ANBU in front of her and smiled at him, remembering all those times that she had forced him to stay in said hospital, while she vigorously turned the other sad memories to the back of her mind.

Instead of sitting down on the chair, she noted, Kakashi had remained standing, which was one of the few hints Sakura received that he wasn't letting her approach without discussing the boundaries. She mentally rolled her eyes, being more than aware of the protocols out there.

_'From what side would you like me to heal you?'_ Sakura asked politely, knowing how to deal with ninja didn't trust you enough.

'_Shall I avoid standing behind you?'_ She questioned, though she already knew that Kakashi would prefer to keep an eye on her actions.

As expected, he nodded at her.

She ignored the way that his eye narrowed ever so slightly.

In general, it was more comfortable for the medic to heal someone with the hands on the back when the ninja was sitting. Injuries were more common on the back and the sides, places that were more difficult to protect during fighting. More important than the medic's comfort, however, was the ninja's ability to relax, so it was often the ninja who determined how it was done. If the ninja were unconscious though, it would be easier on a flat surface.

As long as they didn't know, it wasn't a problem after all.

At least, it wasn't a problem as long as said shinobi didn't suddenly wake up during the process. Sakura still remembered the paranoid reaction of a certain shinobi that had nearly cost her a broken nose.

Nodding at Kakashi, she pulled her shoulder-length hair together into a small ponytail.

_'Alright. Please follow me.'_ She told him before motioning the ninja to follow her to an extra room at the back, where she had recently put up a special room for these occasions. The room also held a higher examination bed for the patient to lay or sit on.

_'Make yourself comfortable.'_ The medic said, allowing him to put away his vest and pouch to his preference. She smiled as she turned her back to him, showing her trust in him.

Though that was easier for her to do of course. She knew him.

Well… she was pretty sure that she did.

'He must be feeling pretty suspicious about my assessment of him.' Sakura thought with amusement, while taking out the necessary tools that she needed. 'On the other hand, with the way he was normally complaining about the medics' fussy behavior, this must be a relief.'

She mentally smirked, as she could guess just how uncomfortable her behavior was making Kakashi, having someone that seemed to know how to handle him at first glance.

Judging from the fact that she could practically feel his eyes boring into her back, she wasn't far away from the truth.

Sakura turned around and frowned when she noted that Kakashi still had his long-sleeved shirt on. Any ninja knew that the first question you got was to remove your shirt, so they often did so without asking. The bored look in his eye didn't fool her either.

He was doing that on purpose.

'Are you actually testing me?' Sakura wondered with mentally narrowed eyes as she locked her gaze with his, without showing any of her irritation on her face.

_"May I look through your medical report Hatake-san?"_ She signed as she turned around to get some bandages, expecting him to read her hand. If it bothered him that she did so without asking him first – assuming that she was able to do so - he didn't mention it.

"There is no need. I'm not allergic for anything and I simply need my wounds healed." He bluntly drawled.

Sakura twitched her eyebrow, but refused to let her frustration break her mask.

She turned toward him with a small – fake – smile.

_"It is standard protocol to ensure that everything is in the file Hatake-san."_ She insisted kindly.

Kakashi hn-ed.

She recognized that dismissive behavior and she didn't want any of that. Even though Sakura knew that she would have to say something mean in order to get him to take her a bit more seriously, it would be worth it.

_"As a ninja, you know how important protocol is."_ She sighed.

It was a low blow – maybe too low Sakura belatedly realized when she saw him twitch slightly as the rebuke. Seeing as how he had always been obsessed by rules and protocols as a child, which had eventually indirectly let to Obito's death. This was still a sour subject.

"There. Is. No. Need. For. That." He told her again, emphasizing the words while still able to maintain his aloofness. "As a Jounin, I am fully able to take responsibility for this myself."

This time Sakura actually did twitch and she felt like telling him just how many times something like that had led to many mistakes – deadly mistakes - but she forced herself to let out another sigh instead.

_"If you say so Hatake-san. However I will have to send a note to the administration to get the financial part registered." _

"I will pay for it myself."

Fine, this was obviously off the records then.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, hating not knowing what he was planning. He let out a suffering sigh and made a move to stand up, showing that he wasn't going to stay if this wasn't going to be the way he liked it.

'Damn that stupid lazy-' Sakura started cursing in her head.

She held up her hand to stop him and he looked at her in that fake questioning manner that made her just want to punch something. Too bad that it would probably result the collapse of a building…

Still, Sakura knew exactly what he was doing, even if he didn't know that she did. The damn fake interest that he directed towards her hurt her more than seeing him without being able to hug him.

She was not going to break though, she told herself, and strengthened her mask.

'Hana' nodded slowly, her face now blank except for the polite smile directed at the shinobi.

'_That's fine Hatake-san, it will be off the record then, but I am not responsible for the consequences. But if Hokage-sama comes knocking at my door, or anyone with the right authorization from him, I _will_ tell him.'_ She told him. _'Now please remove your shirt or do you need any assistance with it?'_

"No."

She shrugged at his refusal and turned around to wash her hands at the small washbasin in the corner. She used the moment to calm down, knowing that no matter how many times she saw such well-developed chests, Kakashi's had always had an effect on her. It was a common thing for those in the medical world, though not much spoken about and it had always been a bit embarrassing. It was simply important to acknowledge it and not to get distracted by it.

But for some reason, all those scars on Kakashi – all those experiences – fascinated her.

"So, you are not going to ask for information?" The Jounin behind her asked.

_"I would, but I get the feeling that you won't tell me the information that I want to know. Besides, there is no need for it if I only need to heal your wounds. I know how to heal them. I just wish to know whether you have had any side-effect that may have come from poisoning." _

"No poison." Kakashi assured her, before he studied her a little more carefully. "So you recognize the patterns of the wounds?"

So many questions! Geesh…

Sakura shot him a sweet harmless smile - that felt more like a warning to Kakashi than anything else.

_'Hatake-san, please let me do my job. I assure you that you will be in good condition when you leave. Now please remove your shirt.' _

Kakashi stared at her and nodded curtly. She kept a distance as he struggled to do so. She couldn't help but look like she wanted to help, but the look that Kakashi shot her stopped her from acting out. Seriously, he was so stubborn!

Men!

Kakashi finally put it next to him and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Sakura took that as the sign to start, noting that he kept his hands on the bed as she stepped closer. They clenched when she reached out to touch his wound, but she ignored the reaction.

Her hand started glowing green almost automatically. Doing what she loved most and did best, was always a great feeling for her. Kakashi seemed to agree as he – probably unwillingly – relaxed his muscles as her chakra worked into the musculus pectoralis major and took away the throbbing pain that had bothered him.

**~ Kakashi ~ **

Sasaki Hana was good at healing.

Kakashi continued to watch her carefully as she focused on her job.

Very, _very_ good.

She didn't even need to cancel her jutsu when going from one place to another, but kept going instead. She must have a very good chakra control not to waste much during those intervals. From what her files stated, she was Chuunin level due to her healing, but that was all. The way she had been caught off guard by him before did seem to confirm this statement.

Still there was _something_ about her that made Kakashi wary.

Yet, it was not like an 'I-feel-threatened-wary'.

It was the even less desirable 'I-actually-seem-to-somewhat-like-you-wary'. Except for her annoyance with his refusal to give her the right documentation – which he understood – she didn't annoy him. She seemed to be one of those people-persons.

'Or… ' A suspicious part of his brain whispered to him. '…she figured you out during this short interval.'

The thought caused him to narrow his eyes at her, but she didn't notice as she was focused on mending the partly ruptured Achilles tendon while crouching at his right foot.

It had been swollen and warm, but she had managed to slink it down enough for him to stand on. He would have to be careful for a day or so and try to use chakra during jumping and the like to give a little more stability. She made sure to tell him so as she took a short break and put down some water for Kakashi on the bed.

He regarded it just a second too long and with a sigh Sasaki-san took it back. Heaving her head back, she made a show of letting it drip into her mouth without touching her lips, so that she wasn't able to spit something into it – she seemed to know that he was just that paranoid.

Having only drunk a little bit from it, Sasaki-san put it back and ignored the Jounin for a while as she took some bandages and started wrapping his chest.

She was so… interesting, Kakashi decided warily.

He was going to keep an eye on her.

**~ Sakura ~ **

'Not to tight, but not too lose' Sakura absently thought and tried not to feel too hurt by the fact that Kakashi had shoved the drink away, declining it.

Taping the bandage to his chest, she turned her attention to her patient's face again.

_"I'm going to have to get to your triceps. Please allow me to work from your left side." _She asked, looking at him expectantly.

He regarded her for a short moment before he answered somewhat reluctantly.

"Alright."

She mentally let out a sigh of relief. That was at least one sign of respect towards her. Nodding, she calmly did as she had asked and ghosted her hand over the wound to get an impression on how deep it was.

_"It has severed part of your muscles."_ She told him with displeasure. _"The bleeding stopped, but it also caused some disruption deeper within the muscle."_

'Now what am I going to do…' Sakura pondered. 'Show him more potential than they expect from me or let his injury go?'

She mentally scoffed at her stupid thought.

Why was she even asking herself this again?

She had long since made her decision.

**~ Kakashi ~**

Severed a muscle and blood props huh?

Just as he had feared, Kakashi thought with a mental sigh. "I see. I can visit the hospital if it is too much for yo-"

_"Please don't insult me Hatake-san. If there is one thing that I'm confident in, it's my skills to heal."_ She told him briskly, making him blink.

He studied her as her hands went through another jutsu. This time her hands shone a bit more brightly than before.

There was no sign of any threat coming from her and she was clearly passionate about her job. It surprised him that she wasn't allowed to work in the hospital yet. If it were him, he would prefer this attitude above those of those nurses. Not that he was going to tell her that. He barely knew her.

_"Hatake-san, please stop fidgeting or I may accidently cut off the long head of the triceps brachi as well."_ Her no-nonsense expression warned him as he read her lips again. _"It might leave you out of service for a few days." _

See? Simple, straightforward and the most important consequences were made clear.

No whining, but just simply straight to the reason.

He was starting to like her just a tiny bit already.

Still, he couldn't help but think back to her first reaction upon seeing him. It could have been his reputation as a Jounin that had taken her off guard, but the way she was acting now didn't seem to match that. Except if she had so much experience with healing that she had developed a 'mode' for her to slip into.

That would be a promising sign.

If she were mentally prepared to go into battle-involved areas, it would be even more promising.

Also, if only she would improve her self-defense, she could go out on missions as back-up.

There were far too few mobile medic-ninja available.

Maybe he could offer this idea to Hokage-sama.

**~ Sakura ~**

Sakura was watching Kakashi ponder about _something_ from the corner of her eye and mentally wailed.

He was planning something and knowing him it could be anything! Was she showing too much skill? She had showed the examination just as much – though had made sure to look more nervous about it. Luckily for her, the evaluator had been clearly jealous and had not been planning to hand an outsider like her a higher rank.

Even though Sakura actually deserved it.

Actually, now she thought about it, Sakura had already finished with healing the wound.

She had been right about her theory as well. It had been wrongly healed the previous time, so she fixed that. It had been a tricky, but she had no difficulty with manipulating Kakashi's familiar chakra. Not that she was going to tell him that. So she stayed there a little longer than necessary, simply giving the tired muscles an extra boost. Knowing that it might be the source of a weakness in the future, it could certainly use it.

After about a quarter of an hour Sakura cancelled her jutsu and stepped back and turned to the basin to wash her hands again. She turned around and took the water that Kakashi had shoved off and drank some of it.

Kakashi stared at her with a rather vacant expression.

_"Any other wounds?" _She asked, glancing at his hidden eye for a moment but didn't comment on it.

"No you got everything." He told her as he carefully moved his arm and she nodded in acceptance.

_"Then I'm done. You can put everything back on. Be careful with your arm for a while, if you hurt it again anytime soon, it might become a weak point." _She explained and took another pointed sip from the 'dangerous' water that she had offered him before.

He looked at her blankly.

Sakura pointedly put the water back on the examination table.

So what if she was mocking him ever so slightly?

_"As for the payment…" _She took out a payment paper and scribbled down the basic costs. Showing it to him, Kakashi nodded in agreement as he put on his clothes.

He reached to his pouch with the healed arm and pulled out the right amount of money.

The movement felt much smoother than before.

'She is _really_ good.' Kakashi pondered, now finally realizing how much that arm had been bothering him for the last couple of weeks. It had been the second time that he had gotten hurt there but after he had been healed in the hospital, it hadn't bothered him as much as before.

But it seemed like it had still continued to bother him a little bit after all.

Had they failed to heal it properly before?

Really?

'So she actually fixed that as well?' Kakashi glanced at her, noting that she was openly studying him again – probably to make sure he really was completely fine - and couldn't help but feel his respect for her skills rising.

'Maybe I will come here next time as well…Gives me another reason not to go to the hospital.' He considered.

"Thank you, Sasaki-sensei. Have a nice afternoon." The Jounin was about to channel his chakra when her hand snapped out to stop him.

Kakashi hadn't been expecting it though and his other hand snapped around her forearm like a reflex. He noticed her winch and quickly let go. She hadn't even been able to touch him to get his attention, but seeing as she now had it, she let her arm drop. She didn't rub it.

_"I have some chakra-sensitive tools here, so I do not allow ninjutsu in this room." _She calmly told him, as if he hadn't been crushing her arm. "_If you want to 'poof' away. Please do that near the front door." _

Kakashi regarded her for a moment, then nodded at her and left the room, watching her heal herself from the corner of his eye. He refused to feel guilty…

'Things like that happen.' He reminded himself.

The Jounin walked towards the door when it opened – hitting the bell in the process - and a familiar raven-haired boy carefully looked inside. He stilled as he noticed Kakashi in the room.

"Ninja-san." The young Uchiha acknowledged carefully before glancing around again. "Is Hana-san available?"

"Sasaki-sensei is at the back, she should come out any time now." Kakashi answered casually, though his interest was caught.

So Sasaki-san had indeed become somewhat friendly to Uchiha-kun as well.

Very _interesting…_

Probably having heard the bell, the back door opened and Hana strolled back into the room. She smiled at the boy as she noticed him and quickly headed for her whiteboard.

_"Ah hello, Sasuke-kun. I was wondering if you would come back sometime."_ She showed the boy after having scribbled it down.

Kakashi smirked mentally as he watched the Uchiha blush ever so slightly.

"The dobe told me-" He sighed when Hana shot him a pointed look. "Naruto told me that he would sometimes visit you after your work. I just came back from training and well, seeing as I walked by I was wondering if you could use some company or something…"

_"That's very thoughtful of you. Thank you. Would you like some tea?" _

Sasuke glanced at Kakashi somewhat awkwardly and nodded. "Yes please, Hana-san."

_"Ah, Hatake-san was just leaving, though maybe he is willing to translate between us, if he would like some as well." _

She smiled at him but Kakashi couldn't help but narrow his eyes. So she had picked up his interest. Or did she think he was suspicious of her? Or was she simply mocking him? Or was she being generous?

Or a combination of everything?

She was a puzzle.

Yet she was giving him the chance to study her, which probably meant that she was observant and not afraid of being studied at all.

So, he allowed his first somewhat fake smile to appear on his face.

"Thank you, I would love to."

_I accept your challenge, unintended or not. _

He would just have to vanish the tea instead.

**_~ About a quarter hour later ~_**

"Did you train too hard Sasuke-kun?"

It had been that simple question that had resulted in his current situation.

Sasuke couldn't deny the fact that Naruto had been right - again. He was very much aware of the weight of the two hands on his back and the tingling of the chakra that his muscles seemed to soak up. It was so relaxing…

He felt a bit like jelly.

"Feels good doesn't it?" Hatake-san asked him.

Sasuke wasn't quite sure whether he was translating for Hana-san again, but didn't care much.

"Hm…"

A strange amused chuckle came from Hana's direction.

It was odd to hear her make any sound.

He sighed when he felt another muscle being reduced to pudding.

Maybe, Sasuke pondered, he should stop by more often.

Just to talk or something…

A sudden urge to do so suddenly overcame him.

"My mother is in a coma…" He suddenly started and noticed that Hana's hands stilled at surprise. He paused, unsure whether he should continue but did so anyway.

Maybe. Maybe she _could_ actually help after all.

"She got attacked and she is now in a coma. I heard from Naruto that you are really good…"

There was a silence and he looked at Hatake-san who was watching the woman with an odd look in his eye.

Then he pointed at her – showing him that he was translating – and said. "I'm not yet approved of working in the hospital Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke couldn't help but feel disappointed. "But I can give you permission right?"

"Sasaki-san, I'm sure that we should be able to make some arrangements." Hatake told her, obviously ignoring her protests. "Are you telling me that you wouldn't be capable?"

Sasuke looked over his shoulder and saw that somewhat indignant expression on Hana's face.

_"That is not it." _

"Then I will personally ask the Hokage to give you permission." Hatake told her, actually smiling this time.

Her expression shifted into one of surprise and horror and told the ninja something else.

"Yes, I can do that." The man sounded far too happy, Sasuke decided. "In fact, I could try to take you to see Hokage-sama right now."

The woman suddenly seemed nervous. She glanced at Sasuke, who couldn't help but look at her with hopeful eyes.

She bit her lip and Sasuke rolled over to look up to her and touched her hand before wrapping his hand around it.

Hana returned the tight grip and looked him into his eyes once again.

_"I will try." _

Sasuke smiled gratefully, eyes shining, and Hana gently ruffled his hair. Hatake-san pointedly looked away.

"Thank you." Sasuke whispered.

_"I will try."_ She repeated.

She would try.

**~ End Chapter ~**

Exactly what is Kakashi's impression of her? What would you think of her? Would you trust her?

Next time! Meeting Hokage-sama! Will she be able to heal Mikoto? Will she be trusted enough?


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary:** Haruno Sakura was used to Naruto's bizarre plans, but this one really topped it. In an attempt to change the future for the better, her best friend sends her back to the past to infiltrate their own home. The medic planned to do this as discreetly as possible, but she should have known that even with a second identity, it wouldn't be that easy.

**Beta:** Will be beta-ed hopefully in the near future.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Naruto. Too bad.

Dear followers and guests, thank you very much for all the kind messages!

I'm taken back by the responses to the last chapter! In fact, this is slowly starting to take a main place of my fanfiction focus – which is dangerous seeing as I still have to finish Identity (hopefully this summer) and then start the next arch of "Make it or Break it." Oh inspiration where did you go? I will have to go search for you in a few weeks when I got more free time (finally!)

There are surprisingly a many Mikoto fans out there! That's good… I hope… I guess. I feel somewhat pressured now haha. Thank you all for your comments on the character guys, especially concerning the interaction between them.

It's always a bit tricky for me to be completely sure whether I got it down right. A special thanks to Nachtnelke for giving me inspiration with her small comment about Sakura punching Kakashi. It suddenly got my inspiration going for the second part of this chapter!

I see enough approval for the pairing as well. Seeing as I'm probably going to make it definitive – though it won't take over the story or anything – it makes me enthusiastic to become their matchmaker. Whether they like it or not.

Anyway, enough talking/typing on my part.

I hope you enjoy!

**Chapter 8: Fir**

Time & Evaluation ~

**~ Sakura ~Still at the clinic~ **

_"I will try." _

Sakura told Sasuke as he had looked at her with those hopeful large doe-like eyes of his. It was such a pleading childish look that it made her heart twist.

It made her realize that the Sasuke that she had come to know in the future _never_ even once had looked at her – or anyone for the matter – with that look in his eyes. It was clear that her old teammate had given up hope and probably somewhat intentionally walked the foolish path of an avenger. The path that had become his downfall… and that of so many people around him.

Sometimes, she really despised that future Sasuke for the bad choices that he had made.

Yet, looking at the younger _brighter_ Sasuke right in front of her… There was still hope.

She had truly _changed_ something... The emotions that crashed down on her were difficult to keep from her expression. She managed though, unwilling give the Jounin near them any other reason to question her.

"Thank you" The boy repeated, his eyes glossy from the tears that were threatening to spill out.

His words made memories stir within her mind, which she quickly pushed down.

Instead she smiled and patted his cheek gently.

The boy didn't and couldn't know that by saying "I will try", Sakura hadn't just been talking about doing her best to heal Mikoto. The medic was more than willing to accept that particular challenge that had been nagging and irking and bothering her for the last two months. The medic practically jumped at the chance.

It was something else that was bothering her – and she were pretty sure would continue to bother her for a long time.

She was currently experiencing one of those things, Sakura decided as she glanced towards her future ex-Sensei. Kakashi was still looking pointedly out of the window, like a kind gesture of giving them some privacy.

Yet, Sakura was sure that he was keeping an eye on her in the reflection of the glass.

He was suspicious and he had the right to be.

It was exactly this fact that made her reluctant. In the end, it wasn't the healing – she would love to - but was the situation surrounding it. The suspicion that Sakura could not quite spot in Kakashi's eye, but still feel like it was there.

I will try… She had said, having purposely not finished the sentence.

Seeing as there were too many ways for her to finish it.

'I will try not to feel hurt by your behavior. I will try to treat you like a stranger nevermind all the hardships we went through I will try to keep my emotions and memories at bay.' She thought as she tried to ignore Kakashi's eyes boring in her back.

She would have to try a lot of things in the next few hours… days, weeks, months, probably years even.

Not to mention the fact that she would come face to face with the Sandaime of all people. It would either be a big chance to gain a little bit of his trust and the certain opportunities that would surely follow - which was the only reason why she was willing to risk this- or it would ruin everything.

'I will try to keep calm while meeting the Hokage. I will try to fool the freaking 'Professor'. I will try... to make the right decisions. I will try to keep my promise Naruto…' She continued mentally.

God, she missed Ino so much right now. She really needed someone to slap her to reality and to tell her to stop being such a baby.

Though Naruto would have known how to talk her out of this mindset as well.

"Are you alright Sasaki-san?" Sasuke's concerned voice suddenly broke her out of her thoughts.

She blinked as she noticed that she was still touching Sasuke's cheek. Oh damn it, she had completely spaced out, hadn't she?

The woman quickly retreated and smiled at him sheepishly with her eyes closed in a unconsciously Kakashi-like manner, before reaching for her whiteboard.

"_Ah sorry Sasuke-kun. I spaced out of a moment. I'm fine. Now let's go and see if I can help your mother alright?" _

Just like she expected, the last sentence did the trick and Sasuke's concerned expression disappeared without a trace as he nodded enthusiastically.

She couldn't help but sigh mentally.

The happiness and hope that shone in Sasuke's eyes made having been manipulated by Kakashi nearly worth it – but in the end it would depend on the results that it would bring along.

'I guess I will have to get ready.'

The medic took a deep breath to calm down, nodded, stood and shot a pointed look at Kakashi as he questioningly raised an eyebrow at her.

'Are you ready?' He seemed to say.

She twitched and was instantly pretty sure that the man was feeling _very_ satisfied with her discomfort.

The jerk.

She mentally scoffed. Very well. So he wanted to play this game? Whether it was an unintended challenge or not – thought she doubted it - the kunoichi decided that she would accept this unofficial challenge anyway.

_"Fine... Just let me get my things. I will be back in a minute."_

'Sasaki Hana' mouthed sweetly towards the Jounin to answer the unspoken question, before she walked away and walked towards the stairs to get to her private home.

He nodded lazily at her, before he was thankfully targeted with questions by Sasuke, who was asking - more like demanding - whether he could come along.

As she turned her back to him, Kakashi failed to see the smirk that spread over her lips, accompanied by a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

'Oh oh Kakashi. You never changed.' She decided as she stepped into her own room that was located above the shop before she turned and slapped her hand on the seal that was right next to the door.

It flared to life and continued to glow as Sakura moved about in a practiced and preplanned manner.

He should _really_ stop underestimating her.

Especially seeing as Haruno Sakura was not a kunoichi that you should underestimate. It would be your downfall otherwise.

**~ About half an hour later ~ **

Sakura would never forget the day that she managed to hit her future Kakashi-sensei right in the stomach. With a full-blown chakra powered punch no less.

She could clearly remember the somewhat surprised and impressed look on the man's face before it had scrunched up in pain and he had been blown away against a tree at the other side of the clearing – which proceeded to break once Kakashi collided with it.

It had been the day that he had started to take her more seriously than he had ever before. It had been the day that a newfound respect flickered across his eyes.

Unfortunately, it had also been one of the last days that they had trained together, but it had been a enjoyable one for her. Besides having Naruto cheering her on and laughing at Kakashi's failure, it had also been of one of the last days that Tsunade-shishou had patted her proudly on the shoulder before whacking her on the head, telling her to be more careful seeing as they were shorthanded as it was and that they couldn't afford to have the infamous Copycat spent a few days in the hospital.

It had been the day that Kakashi had insisted that she should _really_ stop to call him sensei. Glancing to the chuckling Naruto, she had replied with a smirk. "Sure, Kakashi-sensei. If that makes your midlife-crisis easier then I will try my best."

Kakashi had proceeded to threat her less seriously after that as a form of revenge, yet he always seemed a little more wary of her punches. Behavior that always graced him with a somewhat vicious smirk when noticed.

Unfortunately, it had been one of the last few peaceful days before everything went down the drain... It had been the day that Tsunade had been ki-

Sakura pushed those horrible memories away as best as she could and focused on the memory of the enjoyable spar instead.

The medic easily remembered the satisfaction that she had felt from finally reaching a silent self-proclaimed goal ever since she had gotten to know Kakashi during her first couple of D-ranked missions with her old team.

To simply wipe that annoying lazy look off Kakashi's face.

The knowledge that she was able to do so in the end, sometimes had made it hard not to hit him after the turn-about spar.

Especially when Kakashi was mocking her.

Which was the reason why 'Hana Sasaki' was itching to repeat the occurrence. Kakashi was almost taunting her with that smug little attitude of his as the three of them walked towards the Hokage tower.

Not that many people could read the signs, but Sakura was not 'most people'.

Her target was currently walking behind her, innocently acting relaxed and aloof as if he were bored out of his mind. As if he was not smug or suspicious at all.

She could read him perfectly fine though. He wasn't fooling her one bit.

With a lot of effort she pushed down the urge to glare at him over her shoulder. 'Keeping an eye on me from behind like that…' She mentally grumbled.

'That damn stupid perverted freaking…' - Sakura continued to rant as the two boys flanking her sides pulled her ahead.

For a tiny moment, being surrounded like that and heading towards the tower with the invertible feeling of doom in her stomach, she oddly felt a bit like a prisoner.

The two boys next to her were oblivious to her mental frustration. Instead, Sasuke seemed almost nervous about tagging along now and though he had initially grumbled when they had run into Naruto, the boy proved to be a great distraction for him.

The fact that Naruto – whom, after having heard the story, had decided to personally invite himself along - was trying to comfort Sasuke somewhat awkwardly made Sakura nearly squeal from the cuteness of the situation.

Well, she would have…had it not been for the fact that Naruto didn't have a clue on how to do this.

Hence, the reason why both of them were currently 'escorting' her to the tower – Sasuke had in a moment of impatience grabbed her arm saying that they were in a hurry, which had resulted in Naruto demanding that he could just as well escort Hana-san and grabbed her other arm, which had made Sasuke rebuke that they didn't need him to slow them down, to which Naruto…

Well, you get the idea.

Ten minutes later, Sakura was still stuck between the bickering pair after Kakashi had innocently – yeah right! He was simply using the boys as improvised shackles or something - pondered out loud which of the two would manage to escort her the longest.

It had unsurprisingly resulted in another unspoken challenge between the two.

It took less than those ten minutes for Sakura's patience to run thin with said challenge.

"I will become taller than you Teme! Just you wait!"

Once again, Sasuke seemed almost delighted to take the bait. Anything to take his mind off the nervousness he was experiencing. "No way loser! I'm already taller than you !"

"Whatever! My growspo- wait. What was the word again? Hana-nee-chan.?" The blond asked the mentally twitching Sakura.

She swore that she saw the damn mask of her future teacher twitch as well… He was laughing at her!

"Growth spurt" she absently mouthed towards Kakashi, who had now come to walk beside them, with not quite a hidden glare. The ninja's eyes also seemed suspiciously mirthful as he translated for the boys.

"Yeah that!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Tch you can't even think for your own... Seems like your growth spurt isn't the only slow part of you!" Sasuke taunted with a smirk.

"Why you!" Naruto sprang forward, but refused to let her hand go. Sasuke darted away from the boy. Which ended up in them circling her, as well as causing her to spin a few times - for the fifth time since the game started - before she decided that she had had enough.

With ease, Sakura grounded herself, pulled the boys to a stop and crossed her arms in front of her, forcing the boys to collide with a grunt.

She shot both of them a pointed glare as they rubbed their heads.

"Sorry Hana-san/nee san" echoed boys rubbed their forehead, but still refused to be the first to let her go.

_"You guys are making my head spin. Literally. " _She sighed, which Kakashi automatically translated for them in a fake monotonous voice.

He was holding a back an amused chuckle for sure. He had a soft spot for word play jokes after all.

The boys ducked their head somewhat sheepishly before quietly walking next to her as they continued their way. The two managed to behave for about five minutes before they were shooting each other looks again.

She didn't even have to look at them to know what messages they were trying to convert.

'It's your fault.' Naruto narrowed his eyes.

'No it isn't.'

'Yes it is.'

"It isn't." Sasuke grumbled.

"It is." Naruto whispered right back.

Seriously.

Sakura sighed in relief as she saw the doors of the tower appear, which immediately calmed the boys as they were reminded of their destination. Sasuke suddenly seemed a lot tenser, so Sakura squeezed his hand in a hopefully comforting manner.

Naruto, noticing the sudden change in behavior, decided to break the silence.

"Are you nervous Hana-nee-chan?"

She didn't bother to lie, trying to ignore the feeling of Kakashi's eyes boring into her back.

She nodded.

"Did you ever meet him before?"

'Before? She pondered, knowing very well that Kakashi was very good at spotting lies.

'Well… chronologically speaking...' She reminded herself. "No". She mouthed honestly as she shook her head.

Naruto patted her hand as if to calm her down.

"You don't have to be nervous Nee-chan! He is really nice! But old..." Naruto said as if the latter explained everything else.

She couldn't help but smile at the 'Naruto-ness' of that comment. Yet, in a way it actually did explain everything.

The Sandaime was indeed old for a Shinobi – meaning very experienced – and therefore very _dangerous_.

"I will be fine Naruto-kun." She mouthed to him as they entered the building and tried to ignore the lack of a familiar greeting from the guards that would have surely met her in the future.

She refused to feel jealous as Kakashi nodded back to the guards saluting him.

'At least, I hope I will be alright.' A tiny voice whispered in the back of her mind.

It took some times for them to get to the office and they were told to wait outside while Kakashi would explain the situation at hand at first. A comment which was easily translated to 'I will tell him all that I have observed and concluded and how I managed to trick you into this situation so that he can confirm or disregard his suspiciousness.'

"I will be right back. Just wait over here." Kakashi told them before moving away, as if he wasn't concerned about them at all.

Sakura had easily seen the subtle hand gestures made in Konoha's own code to the guards at the door to keep an eye on them – or more specifically her.

She sighed.

Refusing to feel bothered by it, Sakura led the boys towards the bench that sat in the corner of the waiting room. As Naruto and Sasuke sat down both of them still didn't to let her hands go. Sasuke – in pretence of the game – was clearly looking for someone to hold onto. His hand clenched hers so firmly that their hands shook, but she knew better than to comment on it with Naruto near.

Said blond boy was also subtly taking advantage of the situation after having been attention-starved for so long. She couldn't really blame him though. It only made her sad that he still felt insecure about her presence after all those weeks. As to re-affirm this deduction, Naruto's hand sometimes clenching hers for a second as if to remind her that he was still there.

She echoed both of their actions silently and it didn't even come to mind for a second to shake their hands off.

Besides, she found the presence of her two future teammates calming as well. She had to admit that maybe she was unconsciously looking for – familiar and precious - people to clamp to as well. If she closed her eyes for a moment and focused on their chakra, she could vaguely pretend to sit next to the two people she had cared a lot for in the future.

It calmed her, even though it hurt.

The situation was almost ironic.

"Sasaki-san."

Sakura's eyes snapped open and immediately shot towards Kakashi who was watching her with an odd look in his eyes. Damn it, she had gone into a light meditative state again it seemed.

She blinked to regain her bearings and then looked towards the two boys that were looking at her silence, both oddly calm for the situation at hand. She glanced towards her hands and wondered if she had done anything without her noticing to calm them.

"Sorry. I must closed my eyes for a moment to long." She mouthed, gently releasing the boys' hands at the same time; a gesture to which the two of them silently listened as she stood.

She forced herself to focus on her feet, the way that they stood steady on the ground. Her body wasn't shaking. She was calm. She had to remain calm. She was going to keep herself grounded, whatever happened. She had been preparing for this. She mentally narrowed her eyes.

She was not going to fail Shishou's lessons!

With her resolve strengthened, she suddenly felt a familiar sharpness sleek over her – She was Sasaki Hana – even though years ago she would never have thought that she would have to use this state of mind in her own home.

"Please, lead the way." She offered genuinely, feeling much calmer than before. Something, which Kakashi surely noticed by the way his eye flickered between the boys and her.

"Sure." He answered instead of commenting on it and led the small group into the Hokage's office.

It felt odd and somewhat sentimental to walk into that office. It had been destroyed for years in the year that she had come from in the future, but she had spent so much time her helping Tsunade-shishou with the paperwork and waking her up that it had felt like a home.

Sakura practically forced herself not to freeze at the doorstep. Instead she followed Kakashi close behind and continued to study the room as if she had never seen it before – mentally comparing it with Tsunade's office.

As she did, she took a deep breath – the smell of the smoke from the Sandaime's pipe clearly in the air – as if to remind her that this was not the office that she had come to know very well.

There was a movement in the corner of her eye and when she turned her head, she was suddenly eye-to-eye with 'the Professor' of the shinobi world.

Tsunade-shishou had told her many times to never hide your emotions from people like him. So she didn't bother to hide her surprise to see him. He looked even younger than she remembered him. But yet again, she was much older now, which clearly changes one's perspective of age.

She quickly bowed as saw him – giving herself a second to collect herself – as Sasuke behind her followed her example.

"Hokage-sama." She greeted the man silently, waiting for his acknowledgement as she continued to bow like she had seen many newcomers do to Tsunade-shishou upon meeting her for the first time. It felt unnatural for her to do so, but she ignored that. She was not an equal.

She heard the man take his pipe from his mouth before he answered her.

"Welcome Sasaki-san. There is no need to bow like that for me. With all the stories that Naruto-kun tells me, I feel like I already know you."

'_But do those stories match?' _ Was the unspoken question behind those words.

Sakura felt her heart skip a beat as she slowly straightened again, a sheepish smile on her lips. _"Ah, well. I don't know what he has told you, but I wish to remind you that even though he's a good boy, he has the tendency to exaggerate Hokage-sama." _

The man chuckled as he read her lips and gestured to the chairs and cough. "Please make yourself comfortable." He said, before glancing towards the boys.

Naruto didn't even pause as he practically ran towards the comfortable couch. Sasuke followed him somewhat reluctantly.

"Kakashi has made some interesting comments on your skills. I have looked through your file and his claims do not seem to match your evaluation. Care to explain?"

It was an easy question and his tone didn't seem to accuse her of anything, but yet it made Sakura twitch somewhat uncomfortably.

"_I did the tests as required upon entering Konoha and took all the oaths that were necessary. I was classified a Chuunin during the first evaluation. While there were skills that I had not been asked to perform, I was not willing to risk any first conflict by demanding a higher rank, seeing as I would have gone through surveillance anyway. I am satisfied with my progress so far, seeing as my plans of settling down – including the shop - took some time to get running properly. I was planning to ask for a reevaluation eventually when I was sure that I would be able of focus on the tasks properly." _Sakura answered honesty.

She met his eyes head on after they drifted away from her lips.

"I see." He muttered, taking a slow drag from his pipe. "Well, please do not hesitate to protest in the future. Skills like yours should be used and appreciated."

Sakura blinked and turned to Kakashi who pointedly looked away from her.

So Kakashi had been that impressed by her healing session after all? It surprised her that he would tell the Hokage that so straightforwardly.

Her musing caused her to completely miss the narrowing of the Sandaime's eyes.

"Well as for Uchiha-san. Seeing as Sasuke-kun is very insistent and Kakashi seems to back you up, I can't help but feel curious as to what you can do. But of course, I would first see your skills first-hand myself before I will can let you help Uchiha-san. She's in a rather vulnerable situation."

Sakura nodded slowly at his proposal of a test. She had expected something like that.

"Seeing as I normally would have lunch with Naruto at this time, I will have some time to spare. I'm sorry Naruto-kun I will treat you to Ramen next time." Naruto pouted but didn't complain.

"Fine Jiji! Just this once." He reluctantly agreed, glancing at Sasuke sitting next to him, making the Hokage smile in amusement.

"Well, then… Can I offer you a quick trip to the hospital?" The Hokage inquired, making Sakura startle slightly as he reached out his hand for her to take.

What was going on? He was going to personally escort her? A wary part of Sakura alerted her of something fishy going on. Why was he so acting so friendly towards her? Why not let another ninja escort her? Why didn't make an appointment to meet her there at another date?

'This is a test.' She knew as she looked at the man's hand.

Mentally narrowing her eyes, while her face kept calm, she didn't even hesitate to take the man's hand. She trusted him. He had been her Hokage for many years after all. She didn't even twitch as he wrapped his hand around her wrist – a move that reminded her that he could kill her any moment.

She wouldn't stand a change.

They stood there for a second too long as she waited for him to transport them out of the office.

Her pulse automatically sped up in apprehension when she saw him frown at the hand that he was holding, which he immediately noticed. The old man glanced at her and she looked at him somewhat hesitantly.

_"Is something wrong, Hokage-sama_?" Sakura asked, purposely adding a slight nervous uncertainness to her expression.

"No. No." He quickly said. "Just an old man lost in his thoughts." He dismissed her concern.

"Ah." Sakura wasn't quite sure how to react to that.

Bullshit.

"I will transport us now." He said and a second later, they were gone. Kakashi followed right behind the pair with the two boys.

**~ At the hospital ~ **

The moment that the Hokage arrived in front of the hospital, he helped the woman next to him to regain her balance by placing a hand on her shoulder. She shook her hand slowly, apparently slightly disorientated by the speed he had transported them with. She stared somewhat hazily at the large building in front of her, swaying on her feet.

He was forced to steady her again.

"Are you alright?" He inquired, wondering if he shouldn't have gone quite that fast.

The woman beside him blinked, as if suddenly realizing that he was there.

"_Ah, right. My apologies Hokage-sama. I'm alright." _She told him, her eyes automatically traveling towards the entry of the hospital once again.

She suddenly looked more vulnerable.

The Hokage wasn't quite sure what to conclude from her behavior, but it was filed away for a later date anyway.

She was an odd one for sure.

"Well then.. please follow me." He offered as walked forwards, taking not of the fact that she fell in step with him. Had he not been looking at her, he would have missed her shift of movement, as if she wanted to walk right next to him. Instead, she paused as if to remind herself of her place and kept her distance.

It was the usual behavior of lower ranked kunoichi, but the intention that he had spotted was making it harder to jugde her.

It was clear that she respected him, but the instinct to walk among his kind seemed to be present anyway.

'Though I should be careful not to read into things too much.' He reminded himself as well.

As they entered the building, he looked over to her and once again took note of a hesitance as she stepped into the building. Her nostrils flared slightly, as if having taken a deep breath before she turned to him expectantly and somewhat hesitantly.

"So how did you meet Naruto-kun?" The Hokage suddenly asked as they continued their way, nodding and greeting various people as they went.

He slowed down slightly to once again observe her reaction to the people. In the end, he wasn't quite sure what to think of the woman walking next to him. She didn't seem to be faced much by the sudden attention that the pair got directed to him and she oddly enough didn't seem that intimidated by him either. Her nervousness didn't count in his opinion.

Something about him nagged him not to write her off as 'just a medic-ninja.'

It was the way that she carried herself around the strong people. It was a subtle confidence that was sometimes there and sometimes seemed to disappear. It was like she was trying to act normal while she felt insecure… or the other way around.

Hiruzen was not quite sure which it was.

That was the most alarming to him as well. If she really did feel confident around such powerful people, then was it because she really trusted him completely? Or was she capable of defending herself or even killing him and getting away with it?

On the other hand, the Sandaime had yet to experience any negative reaction from her towards him or anyone. Nor had she ever harmed anyone in Konoha. If anything she had saved a few people already. Yet, he couldn't help but be puzzled by her. He fully understood what Kakashi had meant by his words.

"_She seems to genuinely like me before we had even properly spoken. It makes me uncomfortable, yet curious at the same time." _The Copycat had stated somewhat reluctantly.

Hana - whom unknown to the Hokage was experiencing somewhat of a déjà vu of walking next to Tsunade at this point, seeing as she had been pretty used to such attention in the future – simply shrugged.

"_Someone threw a mask at him and demanded him to get out of his shop. I hate such treatment, especially towards children like that. I must admit that my temper got the better of me and I managed to catch the mask before it hit him. He ran away and I followed him seeing as I decided that he might as well have the mask for the rude behaviors of the shopkeeper. Not that I didn't explain to the man just what I thought of his rudeness when he visited me a few days later." _She muttered the latter angrily, but the Hokage was more than good enough to read it anyway.

Her defense of Naruto seemed genuine enough. The way that she looked at the boy helped to calm down his protectiveness towards the boy as well. She cared for the boy that much was clear. All the surveillance up until this point had stated so as well.

But why did she care about him so much?

He thought back to Naruto and the recent visit from Iruka – and his change of heart regarding the blond - and then sighed. Well… Naruto did seem to have that affect on people.

Once again regarding the young woman next to him, the man decided to follow his gut feelings and turned around the corner to the right and opened a door.

He missed the surprise that flickered across Hana's face.

The room that they entered turned out to be an examine room. He felt Hana falter at the doorway as he moved up his sleeve, took a clean scalpel from the right and proceeded to give himself a clean cut – knowing that he was barely missing his arteries.

_"Hoka-"_ Hana exclaimed silently in surprise - her throat actually producing a gurgling-like sound in protest - as she rushed forward. "_What are you doing? You might have hit your arteria radicalis!"_

He glanced at the woman's hands that had automatically enveloped with green chakra, before he simply and silently held out his arm for her. She looked at him somewhat oddly, before she slowly took hold of his arm, as if seeking confirmation.

He nodded at her.

Without even having second thoughts, the woman proceeded to heal him. He had to agree with Kakashi's observations.

'She's really good.' He agreed.

The image of a young Tsunade suddenly flashed in front of his eyes, but he shook it off.

As the woman stepped back and after taking a long drag from his pipe he nodded at her.

"Let's pay a visit to Uchiha-san."

Hana smiled at him somewhat shakily, a relieved sight of having passed his little test, which made him secretly smirk as she turned away from him to exit the room.

He still had something up his sleeve.

This amusement distracted him for a tiny moment, therefore he completely missed the repressed grin that threatened to split the woman's face.

Maybe he would have been even a little more wary otherwise.

**~ End Chapter ~**

So many silent and hidden tests and so much suspicion! How many did you manage to catch?

Next up! Mikoto-san! Another test? And of course our favorite annoying perverted jerk and bickering brats.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary:** Haruno Sakura was used to Naruto's bizarre plans, but this one really topped it. In an attempt to change the future for the better, her best friend sends her back to the past to infiltrate their own home. The medic planned to do this as discreetly as possible, but she should have known that even with a second identity, it wouldn't be that easy.

**Beta:** Will be beta-ed hopefully in the near future.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Naruto. Too bad.

Dear followers and guests, thank you very much for all the kind messages!

I really like the meaning of the flower this time. It is also a beautiful flower that fits Sakura pretty well in my opinion – especially the pink ones obviously.

Anyway, this chapter was quite an experiment for me. It contains a lot of analyzing thoughts; so if you dislike that kind of stuff, please bear with it for a little while. If you love it, great! It's always a bit tricky for me to be completely sure whether I got interactions between some characters right without anything too ooc. So I challenged myself to a somewhat tricky one between the hokage and sakura and in my opinion, seeing a very… touching scene that just needs to be right or it would be disappointing - which you will see at the end – No don't scroll down! - you will see it eventually!

I really hope it is met with approval.

Enjoy!

**Chapter 9: Gladiolus**

_~ Strength Of Character ~_

_(I am really sincere)_

**~Hospital~**

It was trickier than Sakura had expected to somewhat 'meekly' follow the Hokage as they finally walked towards the patient she had been waiting to meet.

Having walked, run, fought and practically lived in these hallways of the Hospital – basically a home of some sort - for many years, it was quite difficult not to take the lead like she had been used to.

Luckily, she knew that they were nearing the room where Mikoto resided in, so she could stop repressing that annoying habit. In fact if they turned to the right, like they did now and then to the le- she mentally sighed when the Hokage lead her to the right, like they had already done once before.

She wished that the Sandaime would stop circling in the hallways as if it were a maze. It wasn't like 'Sasaki Hana' wouldn't be able to find the room again if she were to find out the number.

Sakura knew the pattern in which the room numbers were swabbed. She was pretty sure that was still similar.

Besides, who needs numbers when you have the whole map figured out in your head and already visited several times to check up on her?

Oh right… of course, Sasaki Hana wasn't supposed to know all of this.

So instead, when she noticed the man looking her, Sakura simply glanced at a poster that they had already passed trice now and visibly frowned. There was a moment of doubt as she turned to the experienced ninja walking slightly in front of her to ask him something. She reached out to catch his attention, then quickly faltered and sighed.

"Is something wrong Sasaki-san?"

Ah, there was that tone again.

The overly polite tone that just wasn't _right_.

Sakura allowed herself to twitch. "_Ah, Hokage-sama… it's just…It's just that we have passed his corridor trice already. If you want the location to remain hidden I think another method would be better."_ She mouthed.

"Why would you think that I want to keep the location hidden from you?" He asked her, raising an eyebrow at her.

He was going to question everything, wasn't he?

"_Well… We seem to be walking in cycles, Hokage-sama." _She pointed out to the poster. _"We have passed this before. I'm sorry if my conclusion in unjust. I do not mean to offend." _

Two could play the game, sneaky old man. Not to mention that she still had Kakashi to beat.

She swore that the corner of the man's lip twitched at her answer.

"My apologies, I was just studying you." He stated, as if that explained everything.

Which to her it did.

But it wasn't supposed to when it concerned Sasaki Hana.

Sakura's eyes widened at the man's blunt reply. "_Ah… Oh… Well…"_

Still, she hadn't expected the Hokage to take the blunt approach, which made it easier to act on it.

"Does that make you uncomfortable?" The man prodded.

"_A little bit I guess…" _She started, before twitching, as his eyes seemed to bore into her_. "I mean yeah, it does. I do not mean to offend Hokage-sama."_

"Why?" He confronted her, seemingly dismissing her politeness again.

"_I just don't like being scrutinized…" _She started carefully as he continued to do just that. "_Like this."" _She finished pointedly, unable to keep down the arched eyebrow that came with her statement.

There was that movement of his lips again! Was the old man suppressing a smile?

"Interesting…" He stated instead, though Sakura had the feeling that he was reading a lot more from her reactions that she wanted.

Sakura's eyebrow twitched. 'Interesting?'

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Damn that man could be frustrating!

As she grumbled, she nearly bumped into the man as he turned around to face her, arms behind is back. His suddenly looked taller and the feeling of authority seemed to pour out of him. Sakura was about to splutter an apology but he was cut her of with another question.

"Why did you come to Konoha?"

She looked at him with real surprise.

'Was this why Naruto kept asking me such tactless and indirect questions back then?' She thought back to their preparation, before thinking of her Shishou.

'Maybe it is a Hokage thing.'

A small alarm went of in the back of her mind – a ninja approaching - but she made sure to answer anyway -

"_Originally because my mother came from Kon-" _

"Hokage-sama!"

- seeing as Sasaki Hana wasn't supposed to be able to sense the Chuunin's semi-hidden and flaring chakra-signature to such an extant. Though she probably would be able to sense the light flare in the Hokage's chakra to give the shinobi permission to approach.

So instead, Sakura looked at the man in surprise at his sudden flare and then 'startled' when a Chuunin _unexpectedly_ flashed right next to the Hokage, her answer frozen between her lips.

The slightly-out-of-breath shinobi bowed towards the Hokage, glanced at her and then made a subtle hand movement that asked for permission to get into the Hokage's personal space. The Hokage mirrored his action and the two huddled together, making Sakura feeling oddly left out.

Seeing the two whispering to each other, she turned away from the pair. Even with channelling chakra to her ears, it was difficult to hear what they were discussing except for the few words that managed to slip beyond what was probably a personal jutsu by the Hokage for these situations.

"…Prowler…"

"…. nfronted?-"

"Alert…"

These words were enough for her though to get an impression of what was going on.

She kept her face blank so that the men were oblivious to the fact that she was mentally grinning. Instead, 'Hana' pointedly ignored the whole affair with a sigh and turned around, staring at a copy of the poster that hung on the exact same place as the one in the hallway they had just left. They were practically everywhere.

She remembered some nurses whispering that Tsunade had once burned all of these in the future. Looking at the cartoon of a stereotypical nurse winking cutely like that… She understood why she had done so.

Glancing at the still whispering pair, Sakura looked at the clock that was exactly the same and on exactly the same place just as the one she had seen before.

'11.50. We have been walking around for about fifteen minutes already.' Sakura grumbled, having automatically checked the time as they had walked into the main hall of the Hospital.

Sakura was distracted by the Hokage's signature flashing subtly for a moment and felt slightly giddy at the action. She wasn't sure what kind of jutsu – if at all - he had done, seeing as he was really good at suppressing his chakra for the reservoirs that he had, but she had her suspicions.

She suspected that she would find out soon as well.

A minute later, the Chuunin disappeared with a quick bow and the Hokage turned back to her. She frowned at him and pointed to the poster.

"_Hokage-sama, this poster has this little brown spot right here… Do the nurses drink coffee in the hallway?"_ She asked with annoyance.

Shishou would have disapproved.

"Ah yes."

"_Even in the rooms of the patients?"_ She couldn't help but ask.

'Really, had Shishou's influence dropped so much during the time of her absence?'

The man actually seemed to pause. "I'm not sure." He answered slowly and Sakura was surprised by his honesty, so she nodded somewhat reluctantly.

"_Unhygienic."_ She left it at that, glaring at the large coffee spot.

The old man nodded slowly. "I will question it. However –" His eyes reclaimed their previous seriousness. " – I wasn't able to listen to your answer."

She nodded and sighed as she openly tried to find the right way to get her story across.

"Why are you here?" He repeated.

She paused, before she turned to him and adapted an open posture.

"_Because sometimes people need distraction. Sometimes, people need a new start. That was what I told the boys." _She started off, knowing that he was probably already somewhat aware of the quote through Naruto.

"_I have been a lone for a while now. My mother died because of a fire and ever since then…"_ She swallowed, not even hiding the awful memory that resurfaced.

Shishou's death had not been a happy one.

"_I was just… alone."_ She remembered waking up in the cave all those months ago. _"In the village, I didn't feel at home, nor can I make much difference there." _She carefully chose her words so she wasn't lying, but not too slow so that he would notice.

"_I... My mother was very skilled, especially at medical jutsu. She has taught me to use the talent that I possessed and she told me I would be great and be able to do so much more. Maybe even more than her, she said. I called her crazy at the time." _A soft sad chuckle escaped her as she looked at her hands.

"_I was told that I could make a difference here that I could help people I would care about."_ She thought about Naruto's words. "_So, in the end it felt like the only option left for me." _

A determined glint appeared in her eyes, which the Hokage couldn't help but admire slightly. _"At first, I felt out of place here. Maybe I still do ever so slightly, but then I met Keiko-san. Then Naruto came along, being the ball of energy that he is and then I literally bumped into Sasuke." _She smiled. "_Some of my patients depends on me now. Most of them are kind. I'm being useful and people are precious to me. Well…it gives me something to fight for." _

Sakura suddenly realised how much she had been babbling. "_Ah… I'm sorry Hokage-sama."_ She apologised in embarrassment.

"You're very passionate." The man told her, studying her slightly flushed face.

She shrugged. _"It's just something I'm good at."_ She stated, referring to her medical skills, as if that explained everything.

Maybe it did. Just a tiny bit.

"Well then…" He muttered and took a step closer, causing the woman to tense slightly as he brushed her personal space. His chakra suddenly seemed more pronounced and she shuddered slightly.

"Can I trust you?"

"_Excuse me?"_ She blurted out before she could help herself.

He didn't say anything, just stared at her in a somewhat slightly threatening manner.

This man was dangerous, she reminded herself. She didn't know him as personally as her other important people she had met so far. She couldn't underestimate him.

She was well aware that she was on dangerous grounds.

So, she gaped like a fish for a minute before trying to find the right words. _"Eh… Hokage-sama. I have no intention to harm Konoha in any way."_

He glared at her now and a tingle of killing intent leaked out. She felt a shiver run down her spine before she suddenly felt annoyed. How dare he ask her that! She wasn't lying! She was trying to help! Why else had she travelled all this way and left her last true precious person behind! She might even have freaking erased his existence doing so!

Her posture changed and her eyes blazed, which was most likely carefully noted by her current opponent.

"_Hokage-sama." _She started respectfully. _ "I might not be a Kunoichi on the field, but I still am one. Fire Country has been my home all my life and I will protect the Will of Fire that my mother always told me about in tales as a little child. I might not be completely trustworthy to you and I accept that. I _do_ have my secrets and private things that I do not want to share. I might have made mistakes in my life and can still make them but my intentions are good! I am here to help Konoha!" _She willed the man to understand, trying to remain as polite as possible.

It frustrated her that she couldn't read the Hokage's expression, as he remained unfazed by her words.

"_If you are worried about Naruto and Sasuke, I care about the brats too! It especially amazes me how strong Naruto is when people treat him like dirt. I will not let those stupid people - " _The Hokage's eyes narrowed dangerously at that "- _crush the boy's heart because they look down upon him so much!" _Sakura snarled silently at the man_. "I'm pretty sure he didn't do anything to deserve such treatment and he deserves better than that loneliness!"_

There was a long pause at the two regarded each other. Sakura's heart sped up, realising that her temper had gotten the best of her. While she didn't think she had said anything too out of character… She hoped.

Oh man… She was screwed.

She slowly changed her stance and bowed in apology. "_My apologies. Hokage-sama. I was out of line."_

His eyes bore into her and she awaited her faith nervously.

"You are an odd one." He muttered and she ducked her head.

"_My apo-" _

"Follow me." The man interrupted her and they once again, followed the path that they had walked a few times before.

She wondered if she had actually managed to pass a test of some sort. She sure didn't feel like it.

However, this time, the Hokage turned to the left and he led her to the right room, so that probably meant that she had done _something_ right. She automatically took note of the room number – even though she already knew it - and followed the man into the room.

She faltered slightly as she realised that they weren't as alone as she had expected.

"Is something wrong Sasaki-san?"

She hated that tone.

Sakura shook her head slowly as she glanced at the familiar figure that lay in the same bed that she had visited for many weeks. Not that the man behind her should know about that. Right now she was supposed to be a relatively normal healer that just wanted to help a little brat that she couldn't say no to.

All right and maybe a healer that had been 'tricked' by Kakashi as well.

Sasaki Hana wasn't 'someone' with a second agenda after all.

She just had a bit of a temper.

Nor was Sasaki Hana supposed to – or should be rather unlikely to - recognise the significance of meeting someone with that _particular_ shade of blue eyes combined with blond hair during situations like this. Traits, which the man standing near the patient's bed just happened to possess. A man, whom was far too familiar and appeared to be waiting for her to _possibly_ a look into her mind.

'Ino's dad looks so young!' Sakura mentally exclaimed, which was soon followed with more frustrated grumbling. 'I was afraid that this might happen…'

But Sasaki Hana wasn't supposed to know.

And she was Sasaki Hana.

So she didn't now.

He might read her mind.

'I'm Sasaki Hana.'

It was an odd feeling for Sakura as switched to her second personality. A faint echo of her childish cry of 'Shannaro' helped her stabilise.

'Just like Ino told me.' She reminded herself and slowly breathed out.

Sasaki Hana didn't have any reason to be nervous.

So instead of showing how 'glad' she was to meet Inoichi _alive_ again, Hana looked at the 'unfamiliar' shinobi questioningly, before she soon switching her attention to the patient – as if she didn't know that the man was probably going to test her.

As if she hadn't felt like she had punched in the stomach upon seeing him.

She missed Ino.

The door behind them opened and two loud exclamations followed, providing a perfect and well-needed distraction.

"Hana-nee-chan!"

"Hana-san!"

"Hana-san." Came the calmer reply from Kakashi as the two boys run up to her and practically clamped to her.

"_Hi Brats." _

She automatically smiled with affection at the boys, before she frowned at Sasuke's expression. He looked troubled.

"_Are you alright Sasuke?" _She asked carefully.

"You never believe this!" Naruto exclaimed.

She blinked at them, surprised at their odd behaviour. She glanced at Mikoto, wondering if she wasn't supposed to start her diagnostic run.

"We saw Sasuke's saviour!"

Huh?

So they had somehow spotted her clone?

Well… that's inconvenient.' Sakura thought with a resigned mental sigh, but didn't feel panicked. There had only been an initial moment of nervousness before she reminded herself that the clone would have dispelled as soon as possible if it had been important or a problem. Seeing as she hadn't received any memories yet, it should be fine.

Right. Just fine.

The clone must have been careless for a moment.' She grumbled slightly at her mistake, before she paused.

It did sound somewhat arrogant and one should always be prepared to make mistakes… but still…

'Normally I am very careful…' She couldn't help but think, an odd feeling nagging her. 'I should be able to hide from them easily.'

Something was off.

Sakura carefully waited a moment before turning her eyes away from Mikoto's figure before focusing on Naruto.

"_Sorry what did you say?" _

She was glad that Kakashi - who she was pretty sure snorted at her inquiry - seemed to take up the role again as translator and nodded at him in thanks, which he practically ignored.

The Jerk.

"We saw Sasuke's saviour!" Naruto repeated with a slight pout of having been slightly ignored.

''_Who are you talking about?" _She asked him with a frown.

"The shinobi that saved Sasuke that night whe-!" Naruto continued to explain in his usual tactless manner, earning a mean punch from Sasuke, who suddenly looked more depressed.

"_Slow down. I don't know what you are exactly talking about, but be more attentive of Sasuke's feelings Naruto."_ She warned, making the boy actually slump forward when he saw the 'Teme's' face.

"Sorry Teme. I didn't mean to."

"Naruto."

"Sorry… _Sasuke_." Naruto relented with a sigh.

Said boy shrugged.

"_So what happened_?" Sakura asked Sasuke, trying to get him out of the mood as she lowered herself to her knees in front of them. She snapped her fingers when he didn't react, causing his eyes to focus on her.

What was he brooding about?

"It's alright. I just didn't get to say thank you I suppose." He nearly whispered as if he was ashamed to say it. He nudged Naruto and as if he switched something on, Naruto took over again.

"Kakashi-san took us out to watch the village on the Hokage-Monument because we wanted something fun to do while you talked to Jiji about more boring stuff! So we were like, watching the sun and Kakashi taught me to tell when it is noon by looking at it and it was noon! And then like _that ninja_ just was there suddenly!" Naruto made a 'whoosh'-ing sound to emphasise it. "Kakashi-san jumped in front of us ready to fight but the ninja just stood there on the corner of the Hokage monument for a few seconds, before he noticed us and then he disappeared!" The boy babbled, making large arm movements in his enthusiasm.

Wait a minute.

'_He stood there for a moment?' _

Something was _definitely_ off.

Keeping her curious and concentrated – he was talking loud and fast again - expression intact, while distractedly glancing at her soon to be patient, the wheels in Sakura's head started spinning.

Sasuke never told her about what happened _that_ night of the massacred. Nor did she know anything about planning to show her real masked identity to him. In fact, she always made sure to stay away from him. It was one of those thoughts - orders - that her clones followed.

Sakura felt alarm bell ring in her head.

She had the suspicion that this was not _her_ clone.

So why where they saying that they sa-

'Wait.'

Oh.

Something clicked and a mental sly grin threatened to affect her mask, but she managed to suppress it.

Ho ho ho.

'So my clone is still out there and it was not the one that the boys had seen…' She started. 'Kakashi hadn't reported anything to the Hokage either. So _he_ probably _knew _about the situation. Yet that couldn't have been the Chuunin reporting, because I think it was about ten minutes before noon when I looked at one of the clocks in the hallway during their conversation. The boys spotted the fake figure at noon. So they hadn't expected the 'real figure' to be spotted while I was with the Hokage? Why else would the Chuunin alert the Hokage like that?' So they had been hoping to get a reaction out of me?'

Had she reacted surprised by the fact that there was supposedly a second copy of her because she was the 'shinobi prowling around' – it would have somewhat suspicious indeed.

Now though, it seemed like she had actually made some sort of evidence for an alibi instead. Which was probably not what had they were looking for.

She couldn't help but chuckle mentally, though she was aware that she needed to be more careful. Next time this probably wouldn't work out as well as it did now.

After all, the Hokage really _was_ dangerous.

It also seemed that the Professor was more paranoid than she had thought. Sakura had suspected that there would have been made a connection eventually between Sasaki Hana and 'the saviour' as they put it, but she hadn't expected them to do so soon, nor to set something up to test her like this.

She mentally snorted.

In reality, where time seemed to go much slower now that the wheels in her head were spinning full-time to work out their supposed plan, Sasaki Hana smiled at Sasuke in a slightly sad manner.

"_I see… Maybe you can say thank you another time Sasuke." _She tried to placate him.

The brooding boy shrugged and she sighed, her brain still working vigorously.

The truth was, before Sakura had left her clinic, Sakura had made three clones to split her chakra – especially a large part of the demonic chakra – before meeting the Hokage. The clones and her jutsu wouldn't be detected in the house because of the elder Naruto's seals that he had designed for this.

This way, her unusual chakra reserves for someone with such control would be underestimated. Otherwise it would only have drawn more suspicion on her. Her reserves had been quite on par with Shishou when one compared their efficiency.

She _did not_ want the attention from them because they thought she had the potential strength of Sanin – even though it was slightly true. Hence, why she had made the clones. Luckily so, seeing as the Hokage had checked her while holding her hand. She had noticed his chakra shift.

One of the clones that she had made, without demonic chakra, was allowed to sneak through Konoha as long as it kept disappearing, so that she would have at least have shaky alibi. Just for situations like this, where they started to connect the dots and have suspicions.

Which needed to be broken.

'Still needed to be broken.' She decided, as she was suddenly very much aware of the eyes that were watching her very carefully.

And that hurt.

She stood slowly and glanced at the people surrounding her, pausing for a second on Kakashi who also regarded her warily.

It _really_ hurt.

But Sasaki Hana should be oblivious.

So, ignoring the heavy feeling that she got from the wary glances, she ruffled the completely oblivious – lucky them - boys' hair and turned to Mikoto's form.

"_Look Sasuke. Maybe you won't be able to say thank you, maybe you will. Still, let's focus on your mother now alright?" _

That got the boy out of his brooding and he practically ran over to the bed before looking at her with such hopeful eyes that she felt slightly nervous.

'What if it didn't work?'

She quickly shook her head and took a determined step forward. She was going to do this. Stretching quickly, she turned to the Hokage.

"_Hokage-sama. I can conclude that I have permission to run my diagnosis?" _

The man had taken out his pipe, but slowly put it back when he saw her looking at it. She wasn't quite sure what she had done to make him falter, but he luckily didn't comment on it.

"_Yes you may. Yamanaka Inoichi will help you out." _

She didn't show the relief that she felt.

No mind infiltration for now it seemed.

She glanced at the man who was going to 'help her out'.

Yeah right.

It was like being under surveillance all over again.

Instead of letting her relief or irritation show, she smiled at the man and bowed.

"_It's a pleasure to meet you Yamanaka-san. Let's get Uchiha-san back to health! May I ask what your field of expertise is?"_

The boy's were very disappointed when they were told that 'No.' Sasaki-san wouldn't be able to heal Uchiha-san within a day.

'It will take time. Maybe weeks.'

'No Naruto-kun, she will be busy.'

'Please be patient and let her do her job.'

'Sasuke, you can't stay here the whole day. You don't want to break her concentration right?'

'Just no.'

Sakura never thought that she would _ever _see the two boys brooding together.

**~ Couple of days later ~**

Naruto couldn't help but get rid of the pout that was on his face as he strolled along his usual path near the hospital. He understood why the Hokage would sacrifice their dinnertime together after seeing that the man was drowned in the piles of papers that had surrounded him. It had happened before. Being a Hokage was important after all.

Normally he would go visit Hana-nee-chan, but that wasn't possible anymore. Really Naruto was glad that Hana-nee-chan would be able to help Sasuke's mom. If she got healthy again that should be more than worth it.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder if Hana would still have enough time to see him. She hadn't spent more then half an hour with him the last couple of days.

He was unable to shake off the fear to lose the person that really seemed to see him for… well _him_. He could be Uzumaki Naruto in her clinic without being afraid of the glare that normally awaited him upon the proclamation. He was able to walk in without being surprised by the fact that she smiled a real smile at him – which sometimes still did surprise him.

It was addicting.

He didn't want to lose it.

If he were to be very honest with himself, then he realised that maybe he didn't even want to share his Hana-nee-chan with Sasuke.

The blond child frowned upon the thought.

It was true that he had met her first. It was even him that had told Sasuke that he could visit her, but only because Sasuke-teme had looked so _lost_.

So, Naruto had concluded that Hana-nee-chan might be able to help him too – like she had helped him.

A tiny egocentric part of him couldn't help but regret doing so.

Naruto sighed and pushed his hands into his pockets as he looked at the large lake on his right. The sun was setting and it created a beautiful orange hue across the lake.

Another day was nearly passed. Another day that he had survived.

At least, that would have been his original thoughts in his past. Now, he had something to look forward to. He had acknowledgement.

Speaking of acknowledgement, it took Naruto a moment to realise that someone was sitting at his usual spot on the pier of the lake.

'Speaking of the devil…' The blond thought, a phrase he had overheard from Kakashi-san and forced him to explain.

Naruto couldn't help but winch as he took in the sad and worried-looking form of Sasuke, guiltily thinking back to the nearly ugly thoughts that he had been thinking.

Sasuke also need someone.

He was not the same Teme that he had gotten to know the previous years at the academy.

He had lost everyone around him.

Naruto clenched his fists. How would he feel if he were to lose Hana-nee-chan? He had not known her for a very long time, but it hurt. He couldn't even bare to imagine losing so many people like her.

Biting his lip, he noticed that he had paused in his steps and that he was practically staring at the emotional hurt boy sitting alone at the pier.

Why wasn't he with his mother anyway? Was Hana having another session with her?

Naruto twitched when Sasuke suddenly seemed to notice his presence and turned to him.

Their eyes met and for that moment, when Naruto suddenly felt like he understood, Sasuke shot him an empty-not-really-meant glare and turned back to the water.

Naruto nearly automatically returned said glare and walked away with an irritated huff, before he paused as realisation hit him in form of a memory.

"_Hana-nee-san… Why?" _

He remembered asking her the question that he just couldn't formulate better, but it hadn't been necessary. After staring at him for what seemed a long time – he had twitched uncomfortably which she seemed to shake out of her thought – she had smiled sadly at him and retrieved a whiteboard that she had already written on. He easily recognised it as a conversation with Sasuke-teme and tried to ignore that stupid twinge of jealousy in favour of some words that seemed to hit home.

"_Because sometimes people need distraction. Sometimes they need someone to talk to – I'm a very good listener. Sometimes people need acknowledgement. _ _Sometimes, people need a place to feel at home. Sometimes, people need a new start."_

He had stared in wonder at the words that were encircled which caused her to point at herself before erasing the circles carefully. Then she had reached out for a marker and encircled "talk", "acknowledgement" and "home" and had pointed to him.

"_You deserve that Naruto-kun." _She had then written.

It took her only a second to embrace him when the first tears had proceeded to spill.

Even now, Naruto couldn't help but feel odd tingling warmth from the memory.

He narrowed his eyes in concentration as he thought back to the inspirational sentences that she had written and glanced back towards Sasuke's sulking figure.

'Which words referred to you?'

He glanced into the direction that he was going and then back to Sasuke.

'Why am I even thinking about it anyway? He obviously doesn't want me around…' Naruto thought, feeling slightly put out.

'Still…'

Naruto bit his lip again, pondering what he should do.

**~ Sasuke ~ **

He felt nervous, afraid, angry and most of all worried and alone.

How dare those women tell him to wait outside? How dare that stupid Jounin proceed to drag him outside and block the entry of the hospital? – and then proceed to block his way when he tried to find another entry?

He should be with his mother. If it had been anyone else than Hana-san whom had come outside and asked him to take a walk, to just get something to eat and to come back in about two hours the Uchiha would have refused.

But he hadn't, because she had asked him to and she was helping him when no one else seemed to be able to.

So he had stomped away.

He still had hadn't eaten yet though.

He still had one hour to go. He would just wait here, it would be easier to get back to the hospital that way. He could get a snack out of the machines if he eventually got really hungry.

Sasuke continued to brood for a while before he felt the hairs in his neck stand up.

Someone was watching him.

He _hated_ that feeling.

He twitched as he saw someone standing at the road in the corner of his eye and then swirled around.

The orange jacket was the only hint that he needed.

'Tche... It's the dobe after all.' Sasuke thought, before taking in the boy's expression.

For a moment he was taken back by the worried look – and was that sympathy? - that was present in the blond's eyes.

It automatically caused him to glare. He was fed up with it. He didn't need anyone's pity, pointedly ignoring the fact that it hadn't been pity that had been in the blond's eyes. He quickly turned back around and stared angrily at the water.

As he glared, he noticed his reflection glaring back at him. He kicked the water in frustration. He had not done anything wrong, the dobe deserved it anywa-

No.

Sasuke couldn't deny that he had reacted too emotional.

If anything, of all the people around him, probably only the Dobe could understand the loneliness that he was feeling. He knew that Naruto was an orphan after all. Never had he really cared before, but ever since the accident he couldn't help but feel slightly guilty for have always refused to acknowledge the pain for Naruto that it must have come along with it.

Now that Sasuke was alone though…

Thinking rationally, Naruto may not have lost people, but he had lived longer in this loneliness than he had. At the thought, Sasuke gripped his shirt tightly, his knuckles white and hands shaking.

How did he still _smile_ like that?

That annoying grin still plastered on his face all the time at the academy?

Was it even real?

Was that why he was so obsessed with Hana-san?

Thinking of the woman, he was automatically brought back to the sentences that she had written down and the slightly sad but loving look that she had given the distracted Naruto when talking about the blond simply needing someone to talk to and to acknowledge him.

Eyes slowly widened as he realized it.

He understood now.

Sasuke bit his lip, realizing how mean he had treated the boy moment ago. A sudden energy took grip from him – what wouldn't mother and Hana think? – and the boy swirled around.

"Dobe!"

No wait.

"Wait! Naru-" He exclaimed as he stood on his feet again.

He faltered as he came face in face with said figure. Naruto was standing not far away from him on the pier, having paused his quiet and reluctant approach.

The two boys stood there for a moment and a soft breeze of wind seemed to surround them, as they stared silently away from each other, not quite sure how to react to the other's kind gesture and having been caught doing so by the other.

"I –" Both of them started, before quieting down.

Looking at each other expectantly now, their nervousness toned down when they met the other's eyes.

Sad blue met sad dark grey.

Both of their masks fell for a tiny moment, each of the boys able to see the pain that the other went through.

"Sasuke." Naruto eventually spoke somewhat awkwardly, breaking the silence.

"Naruto." Sasuke copied him, finishing the name properly this time.

Then at an unspoken signal the two of them smiled.

"Dobe."

"Teme."

A soft chuckle echoed across the water, which colours changed ever so slightly as the blue and the orange mixed and changed into a beautiful palette of orange, blue, purple and brown.

**~ One hour later ~**

Sakura frowned as she glanced back and forth between the two boys. What had happened between them? They seemed so… calm.

They weren't bickering.

Not even glaring.

There was no challenge between them right now.

It… it reminded her off those spare few peaceful times during her time as being part of the original team Seven. But even those memories were hazy nowadays.

She glanced at Kakashi, who stood behind the boys, but he simply shrugged and held up his hands in defence.

'Don't look at me.' He seemed to say.

She turned to the boys again who were looking at her in confusion.

"_Are you two alright?"_ She asked carefully, hearing Kakashi repeat her words again.

The two boys glanced at each other before smiling.

"Yeah…" Sasuke started.

"No problem." Naruto grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

Hana blinked at the two of them looked at them sharply as if not quite believing them, before her eyes softened and she nodded at them.

Kakashi privately wondered if she had spotted something that he couldn't and looked at the boy's quizzingly.

_"Good."_ She said sincerely and then smiled broadly.

The boys couldn't help but wonder why their own faced returned the broad smile at their own accord and where that odd proud sensation came from. Her smile was simply contagious.

For a moment, Sakura felt incredibly happy.

A bond had been formed – a step had been taken – that would never have been able to form in the original timeline.

And she refused to feel jealous about it - again.

**~ End Chapter ~**

Did I do okay? Please acknowlegde my effort by sharing your thoughts :)

Longest chapter so far, but I just had to get a right ending. I think you guys probably don't mind hehe.

Also, sorry for the lack of Sakura x Kakashi interaction, there will be more next chapter! I just decided that the others also deserve a little bit of limelight.

In case anyone is a little confuses...(I hope I get this down right):

Sakura made a clone to run around in the village (clone A). There was another person ordered to appear in front of the boys (clone B - indeed a set up by the Hokage). The Hokage wanted to test if Sakura was 'the same person as' clone A, which was why they were trying to get an 'how is that possible' reaction out of her when the boys spotted clone B. Unfortunately for the Hokage, clone A was spotted and reported just ten minutes before their own setup. Sakura was with him at the time and therefore it made it look like an alibi, plus it made Sakura aware of their suspicions and therefore, that she should be more careful.

(how did I get up with this again?)


End file.
